Pastly Present
by mysticaldreams
Summary: Lily and James are back at hogwarts for their 6th year with the marauders, many pranks and a surprising Arrival of Sirius' fav cousin, Andromeda Black! The normal fudes proceed between L&J but will all this change after an unseen event?
1. Summer annoyance

Heres my story! It's going to be about Lily and James mostly in their 6th year at Hogwarts, it will also have a lot of the Marauders in it partly because I think they're so funny! Don't ask me where I got the title from, it just popped up! Well I hope you like it and I hope you will PLEASE review!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Disclaimer: So far I don't own any of the characters or anything that you can find in this story that is stated in the Harry Potter books, that is all copywrited by J.K.Rowling and always will be!  
  
Pastly Present  
  
Chapter one: summer annoyance  
  
Lillian Evans woke up to a loud bang at her door.  
  
"Lily quick wake up!" Came a familiar, frustrated voice that she had come to know only too well.  
  
"God Petunia, it's only ten 'o' clock in the morning!" Lily yelled back as she threw her covers over her head to drown out her sisters screeching.  
  
"You think your woe begotten! I have bags under my eyes from not being able to sleep, it has totally ruined my complexion, and how am I going to look when Vernon comes to pick me up!"  
  
"Your formal isn't until seven 'o' clock tonight!"  
  
"Yes but I need to get ready! I need your red lip liner!"  
  
"For god's sake, couldn't this have waited!" Lily said as she approached her door and unlocked it, stumbling sleepily.  
  
Petunia ran into the room, almost barging Lily over, trying to find her dressing table through the piles of books and clothes lying everywhere.  
  
Petunia started rummaging around the room, throwing all of Lily's possessions around frantically. When she turned around she nearly made Lily jump ten feet with fright. Her face was covered in a gooey brown mask and there were ugly looking green blotches covering her nose.  
  
"Petunia, what the hell did you do to your face!"  
  
"It's a mask you nitwit, you know, to make my face more smooth so when Vernon kisses me it will be so nice and soft" she said dreamily, nearly making Lily spew. "But you wouldn't know anything about that would you?" She kept going, smirking widely.  
  
Lily ignored her sisters pompous attitude, she had given up on fighting with her, it was a waste of breath, she wouldn't play her silly games anymore and let her have the satisfaction of thinking she had won.  
  
Finally petunia found the lip liner laying aside Lily's wand on her bedside table; she looked at it suspiciously and pursed her lips before she launched into her usual speech and direct insults.  
  
"You better put all your freakish stuff away, if I find you have been leaving it around so people can just walk in here and see it, I will rip you apart! I'll have you know that I am highly thought of at school, and everyone thinks you are going to a boarding school for girls because you were expelled, you had better keep that appearance up Lily, otherwise you won't know what hit you, I'm the only one who knows what you really are, a freak at that! If I find out you've been telling anyone anything different I'll make sure the rest of your life's a misery so help me god!" And with that final note she departed, Lily's eyes were formed into cold slits and her expression was that of utter most fury as she watched her sister walk out of the door. Infuriated, but holding her tongue, she slammed the door behind her and slumped onto her bed.  
  
She slumped back onto her bed, she was so glad it would only be tomorrow till she was back on the familiar scarlet steam engine on her way to her 6th year at Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. She loved her home and her parents, they had both been very supportive of her when she had been excepted to go to the school, but unlike them, her sister had taken it badly, she had screamed and said many things that offended Lily immensely, her parents had been extremely angry at her and it seemed that since the moment the words had came out of Lilly's mouth all those years ago to tell Petunia that she was a witch had changed their relationship forever.  
  
Petunia had never said anything in the slightest bit nice at all to her since she had come back from her first year and taught her parents all that she had learnt. In Lily's opinion it was pure jealousy that had kept Petunia from being nice about it, Lily had to admit that her parents had payed a great amount of attention to her the first couple of years she had spent at Hogwarts and still thought of her more highly than Petunia. She had once felt guilty of taking all the attention and leaving her sister with none, but her snobbish attitude to everything over the last couple of years had left her in know doubt that her sister didn't deserve to pitied, and Lily was a very considerate girl, so that didn't say much about Petunia's personality.  
  
Lily's stomach gave a groan of protest and she thought there was no point in trying to get back to sleep so decided to make her way downstairs for breakfast, or, in her mothers opinion, brunch. She tied her waist length, red hair into a rough pony tail and trudged down to eat.  
  
Her father was reading the newspaper and her mother was busy making bacon and eggs over near the stove. She sat down at the table after groaning a rather forced good morning to both of them. She sat and watched her mothers equally identical red hair swish from side to side as she clattered around the kitchen and thought of the many spells she could use to get breakfast so much quicker of a morning.  
  
Her father looked up at her over the newspaper and as if he had only just spotted that he wasn't the only one in the ktchen asked  
  
"Where's Petunia?"  
  
As if on siganl Petunia came running down the stairs, ugly, glucky face mask and all.  
  
"Mum! Mum! Where's my dress? It's gone, I can't find it!" she screamed hysterically.  
  
"Petunia dear, don't be silly, I hung it in your wardrobe last night" "Oh" She ran back up to her bedroom while Mrs Evans called after her  
  
"Petunia! Aren't you goning to have breakfast?"  
  
"No of course not! I mightn't be able to fit into my dress if I eat!"  
  
Lily sighed and for the millionth time wondered how she had the same genes running through her veins as her sisters.  
  
~*~  
  
That day went past in a blur of screaming, hysterical ranting and very long lectures from her mother and sister. Lily closed the door in her bedroom and put on her sterio at full ball so as to drown them both out. She started to gather her robes and new school books into her trunk ready for tomorro morning when she would be heading towards Kings Cross station to aboard the Hogwarts express on platform nine and three quarters. She neatly folded a set of robes and placed them onto the end of her bed, she then picked up a gold and scarlet badge that read prefect on it and pinned it to the coler. She was very proud of her badge and was extremely happy when it had arrived with her letter from Hogwarts, the only thing that she was dreading was finding out who the other prefects were. She hated the fact that, that idiotic prick James Potter and his gang that called themselves the Marauders had a fair chance of becoming a prefect, and all because they all got top grades, well all except for Peter, he only scraped through his OWL's because James, Sirius and Remus told him most of the answers. If James did end up becoming a prefect she knew she would have to protest, or at least say something to Professor McGonagall.  
  
When she had finished packing her trunk it was already seven forty five and Petunia was dressed and ready for her formal, Lily had to admit that her sister did look less vile than usual under all that makeup and wondered for at least the hundredth time how she got into the 'popular' group being so ugly! She was wearing, in Lily's opinion, the most revolting dress she had ever seen. It was a light pink and had frills trimming the high cut sleeves, the neck was cut extremely low and to top it all off, and in Petunia's opinion to make it perfect, there was a large move bow rapped around her waist that sat on her rather large behind.  
  
Petunia twirled around excitedly while she waited for the door bell to ring that would signal the beginning of her 'fun filled'night. Mrs. Evans bustled around her, fixing up any loose strands of hair while Mr. Evans gave her the normal lecture of when to be home and what not to do.  
  
"Now, no drinking, no staying too late, no going off with any other people, you come straight home afterwards you hear! And no-"  
  
Though Petunia didn't get to hear what else not to do as the doorbell rang that very moment and as she pulled it open a plump looking boy in a black suit with his hair slicked back stood staring at her, it was no other than Vernon Dursley, the pompous git himself.  
  
With one small wave of the hand and a quick bow from Vernon they were finally off and for the first time that day they were all left in peace. Mrs. Evans slumped into one of their squishy floral sofas and Mr. Evans stood weraily beside her, wiping the sweat from his brow. Lily walked down the stairs that she had been watching the cufuffle from and sat by her mothers side.  
  
"Are you packed ready for tomorro dear?" Mrs. Evans asked her daughter.  
  
"Yeah, are you both taking me to the train station?"  
  
"Of course! We want to see you off as a prefect, oh Lily you've made us so proud!" Mrs. Evans exclaimed, embracing her daughter into a hug.  
  
Lily's face went slightly pink.  
  
"Listen, I'm really tired, I think I'll go up to bed, I don't want to be grumpy for tomorrow morning"  
  
"Ok darling, we'll see you then, Goodnight" Her father called after her as she slowly resided to her bedroom.  
  
~*~  
  
What did you think? Well I know that chapter was a little bit boring but I promise that the others will be heaps better! When James and the Marauders come into it, it will be funnier and interesting. Well I hope you liked it and if you did make sure you check out my other fanfics, especailly my new one called Two's Comforting for all you Tonks and Remus shippers! PLEASE REVIEW!!  
  
~*~mysticaldreams 


	2. Friends are Family

Ok I'm really sorry I haven't updated for a while but I've been on holidays and I was deprived of the internet for four whole days! I was going through withdrawals, but the good thing is that I have finished chapter two and am half way through chapter three! So I hope you like it and I just wanted you to know that throughout the story it will be from both Lily and James' points of view. Well I hope you like the chapter! Thank you so much to my reviewers Biddett da Pigeon Stalker, crazy-chick and Amanda Halliwell! Please keep reading and reviewing!  
  
Mystical Dreams

* * *

Chapter 2: Friend's are Family  
  
James Potter woke up to the loud snorts of his friend lying on the mattress on the floor a couple of feat away from him. He grabbed his pillow and jammed it over his ears, trying to block out the continuous snoring unsuccessfully.  
  
After a few minutes of endurance he gave up and used the one technique that never failed, he threw the fluffy white pillow. It flew through the air and landed smack bang on the culprits head.  
  
Sirius Black gave one last loud snort and sat up in bed yawning.  
  
"It-it can't b-be time to get up yet! W-what's the t-time?"  
  
"Too early" James replied groggily, "Go back to sleep"  
  
Sirius lay back down; taking James' pillow and hugging it like a teddy bear.  
  
"Padfoot, my pillow?"  
  
"Finders Keepers"  
  
"Sirius" he whined  
  
Sirius chuckled evilly.  
  
Then with one unexpected leap, James came flying off of his bed and landed with a thump on Sirius' gut.  
  
Sirius groaned. "Get off me you boar!"  
  
"Give me my pillow"  
  
"No way! I don't surrender that easily"  
  
Suddenly James was laying on his stomach on the tangled sheeted mattress, looking up at a big, black dog that's slobber was drooling all down his clean, fluffy pillow that had been placed delicately in the dogs jaws.  
  
"Awe, come on Padfoot, that's not fair! You know I'm too big to turn into a Stag here!"  
  
Sirius' tail wagged joyfully and he started to bounce around the room playfully, barking into the pillow.  
  
James scrambled after him, knocking over lamps and books as he launched out furiously, trying to grab any part of the black dog he could reach. The dog jumped out of the way, narrowly missing a glass photo frame as he leapt off the dresser.  
  
After a few minutes of frantic chasing James finally exclaimed "All right, that's enough!"  
  
He then, in less than 2 seconds morphed into his animagi form.  
  
The black dog whirled around to find a muscular, dark stag standing proud and upright in front of him, its long, slender antlers only an inch from the roof.  
  
The dog's eyes bulged as he looked up at the stag. He made a quick start to dart under the stags legs but James' quick reflex's obviously worked in his animagi form too and he bent his antlers low and scooped the dog up in them.  
  
Sirius hung in the air, his black tufts of hair tangled in the stag's antlers.  
  
Suddenly they both heard footsteps padding softly up the stairs.  
  
The doorknob turned slowly and just as the door was flung open, both of the sixteen year old boys landed in a heap on the floor, in their normal human form.  
  
Mrs. Potter stepped through the doorway, took one look around the sabotaged room and then fixed her eyes unblinkingly on the two boys piled on the floor.  
  
"What in Gods name have you been doing to have made this much mess!"  
  
James and Sirius grinned at her cheekily like four year old children.  
  
"Don't give me that" she said huffily.  
  
Sirius jumped off James and with a loud crack straitened his back. James gave a groan and got up off the floor rubbing his backside where he had fallen.  
  
"Your both going to kill yourselves fighting with each other one day" she sighed. "Look at this mess! How are you going to find all your school stuff ready to pack your trunks for tomorrow?" she worried as she bustled around the room picking up dirty clothes and piling things neatly on shelves.  
  
"I thought I heard barking up here earlier, if you've been hiding another one of those magical sound sensation things that pop out of the wireless then I think your father will do the bend James!"  
  
Sirius nervously crept over to the slobber drenched pillow lying in the corner and made and effort to slump down on it casually.  
  
"What have you both been doing?" She asked curiously.  
  
"Sirius stole my pillow" James said pouting, looking over at Sirius who was trying to cover up the pillow as best he could.  
  
"Well you threw it at me!" he said defensively.  
  
"Yeah, because that's the only way to shut you up!"  
  
"Am I dealing with toddlers here?" Mrs. Potter asked, exasperated.

"Dress and come down to breakfast, we have a lot to do today and your new school lists need to be checked through" she finished promptly.  
  
As soon as she had closed the door behind her both Sirius and James burst into huge fits of laughter.  
  
Sirius rolled off the drool strewn pillow and onto the floor, bark-like laughter erupting from his throat.  
  
"Well Prongs my friend, I think that is one event to remember!"  
  
"That of which we probably shouldn't try again" James said laughing as he picked up a broken photo frame.  
  
"Man, I'm famished, let's go get something to eat" Sirius said as his stomach gave a loud groan.  
  
"You're always hungry"  
  
"Well after that much action at eight 'o'clock in the morning who wouldn't? I usually don't start walking around until ten!"  
  
"Yeah, good point"

In a hasty two minutes James and Sirius had closed the door to the extremely messy bedroom and were sitting at the breakfast table, taking in the delicious smell of bacon and sausages wafting from the frying pan.  
  
Mr. Potter was sitting opposite them, reading the mornings addition of _The Daily Prophet_ which front line read: _Hogwarts Students Eager to Get Back to School_, with a picture of a student in the black school robes performing a spell on a changing teacup.  
  
Sirius and James sat in thoughtful silence for a while whilst waiting for their breakfast until it was suddenly broken by Mrs. Potter.  
  
"Now after breakfast I want you both to go back upstairs and clean up that filthy bedroom, and no James, I'm not helping with magic, then I would like you both to pack your trunks ready for tomorrow to go to school"  
  
"K mum"  
  
"Right Mrs. Potter"  
  
Mr. Potter looked up over the top of his newspaper with his eyebrows raised in surprise.  
  
"Is something wrong?" He asked the two boys.  
  
"No, why?"  
  
"You haven't complained yet" he said, confused, and then suddenly his expression changed from confusion to suspicion.  
  
"What are you both up to?" He asked with the air of a detective ready to question his victim.  
  
"Nothing!" They both exclaimed in unison.  
  
"God! We can't even be polite without getting yelled at!" James said disbelievingly.  
  
"He wasn't yelling dear, and with the many things you pair have done over the years I don't blame him for being suspicious" Mrs. Potter said whilst putting their breakfast in front of them.

Although, now all that could have been suspicious or offensive was driven out of their minds as they all dug into their first meal of the day.

After breakfast both of the boys went up to James' bedroom and started tidying and packing.

Sirius was surprised at how much of his stuff he had strewn around his friends room, for instance his Appleby Arrows quidditch mug was found tangled in between a bunch of James' socks behind some books in the bookcase.  
  
It took them most of the day to find all of their possessions and tidy the room (what James and Sirius called tidying) by shoving everything else in a cupboard in a large heap.  
  
Sirius left the possessions he didn't need to take to Hogwarts in James's room, though he had little, as when he shoved his stuff in his trunk the night he had ran from his home, he had had a very limited amount of time before his mother would have blown him apart. So the Potters house was now his temporary home until he was of age to get his own place. To this he was very grateful to the Potters and thought them much more of a family then his real one.  
  
After their trunks were packed they both crept down the stairs and tip toed past the kitchen where Mrs. Potter was singing to the wizard wireless, they kept quiet so she wouldn't be able to give them another job to do.  
  
When they had successfully gotten out of the house and into the backyard without being seen they both ran over to the shed where their brooms were kept.  
  
James picked up his broom, which he would tell anyone who would listen (which was most people) that it was the latest model of Nimbus, that he was extremely proud of. He then handed Sirius his old cleansweep that he had generously let him keep and was still considered as a very fine broom. James also took out one tiny, golden winged snitch and Sirius helped himself to a bat and a struggling bludger.  
  
They walked out onto the green grass that stretched for some acres, just far enough that any prying muggle eyes could not see them.  
  
"We playing the usual game?" Sirius asked  
  
"Yep"  
  
They both jumped onto their brooms and flew into the warm summer air.  
  
Sirius didn't usually fly, he thought it messed his hair too much, he was very proud of how it fell casually over his forehead. This gave him a slight disadvantage since James trained 4 times a week and nearly every evening at Hogwarts.  
  
It was very rare that Sirius ever won the game since James was a very quick flyer and dodged bludgers with ease. The aim of the game was that Sirius could hit James with more bludgers than however many times James could catch the snitch. It never crossed their minds that this sort of game may be dangerous since they were both very used to pain, as they inflicted it onto each other in their weekly ritual of fights.  
  
James let go of the snitch and watched it flutter around his head for a moment until it vanished out of sight.  
  
The single bludger went zooming above the green grass as Sirius chased after it with his bat and started swinging it madly towards James who was searching widely for the walnut sized ball.  
  
Within minutes James had found the glimmering winged ball fluttering just underneath Sirius' broom. He set off at high speed for the snitch, excelling on his broom as the wind deafened his ears.  
  
Sirius zoomed after the bludger and swung it directly where the snitch was flying and in James' eager thoughts of catching the snitch he didn't see the bludger until it had hit him square in the gut. He stumbled on his broom, swaying dangerously. Sirius flew underneath him, ready to catch his friend if he fell, however, with a muffled "good shot" James managed to keep his balance and the game continued as normal.

Two hours later, two very battered and windswept boys walked up through the darkening field to the house. It had started to rain, and over some childish debate of who had the most chocolate frog cards they had both ended up smothered in mud from head to foot.  
  
Sirius was the first one to step into the house, leaving one large, muddy footprint on the sparkling white tiles Mrs. Potter had spent all morning cleaning.  
  
"SIRIUS BLACK!" She screamed, a mingled look of horror and fury on her face, "What in Merlin's beard do you think your doing! Take those shoes of right now!"  
  
Sirius looked down at his squelching joggers and then to James who was taking off his own. He strode into the kitchen pompously, not realizing his jeans were dragging along the ground, leaving a trail of mud behind him.  
  
"JAMES!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
Mrs. Potter pointed a trembling finger at the long mud patches trailing across her sparkling kitchen floor.  
  
"Oh"  
  
"Both of you go upstairs and clean yourselves up before dinner, and before that you can clean up this mess!"  
  
Both of the boys ran up the stairs, trying not to drip mud anywhere while they poked their tongues out at one another.

After dinner and after they had cleaned up the mud on the kitchen floor they were all sitting in the lounge room on the cushioned sofas talking about what they would do for the Christmas holidays.  
  
"It doesn't bother us what you would like to do, we bend either way, if you want to stay at school then- Mr. Potter was cut off , a dark brown, almost black owl had just fluttered through the open window and landed on Sirius' knee. He recognized the owl straight away and groaned. He took the letter from the owl's leg and opened it as it fluttered out of the window and into the night.  
  
All of the Potter's watched as he skim read the letter and laughed out loud, but it wasn't a hearty laugh or one that you would always hear form Sirius Black, it was a unbelieving laugh, that of only could come out of his own family.  
  
He then scrunched up the letter and threw it into the burning fire.  
  
All eyes lay on him, but he did not say anything until James asked the question.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Sirius sighed. "Just me mother telling me that if I was planning to come home not to" he said carelessly waving his hand.  
  
"Like I'd want to!"  
  
"Well darling your welcome here for as long as you like!" Mrs. Potter said cheerily.  
  
"Thanks Mr. and Mrs. Potter, it means a lot to me"  
  
"It's our pleasure" Mr. Potter affirmed.  
  
"Well I think it's time for bed, don't you? We've all got to be up early tomorrow morning" Mrs. Potter said.  
  
"Oh by the way boys I better say goodbye to you both now, I can't come with you to the train station tomorrow, I've got a shift at Madam Malkim's" She added somewhat regretfully.  
  
She launched into her normal speech of being careful, minding their manners and most of all not getting into trouble; this however had no effect on the two boys as they did exactly the opposite of what she told them every year.  
  
". . .No dungbombs, no fizzing wizbees, and not at any situation are you to pick on poor Lily Evans!"  
  
"Mum I don't pick on her! She picks on me! All I try to do is ask her out on at least one date and she bites my head off!"  
  
"Well darling maybe you should take a second look at the way you ask her"  
  
It took all of Sirius' might to keep a straight face while Mrs. Potter was giving this advice to James, though it was soon his turn to be lectured.  
  
"You make sure you help him not to, and I want a full report if anything happens"  
  
At this point Sirius lent over to James and muttered out of the side of his mouth  
  
"How much are you gonna give me?"  
  
James threw him a death stare and he just grinned.  
  
"Now, I don't want any letters to arrive from Hogwarts telling me you have both pulled another one of your pranks, I would have liked to see prefect badges on you two but I could only wish, you both have exceptional grades, all you need is the good behavior, and I'd like to hear of that this year" she finished with a certain tone of finality.  
  
She gave them both a rib cracking hug before wishing them goodnight and a safe trip for tomorrow.  
  
They both walked upstairs to their abnormally clean room and chattered about who they thought would win the house cup and what they would do on their first midnight stroll of the month with Remus before they drifted off to a restful sleep, ready for their long train ride to Hogwarts the next day.

* * *

Well that is the end of the second chapter. It might take me a while to get up the next one because it is going to be a fairly long chapter so please hold tight and PLEASE review!

Mystical Dreams


	3. Reunions

Thank you all so much for the reviews! This is the next chapter and I honestly didn't expect it to be up this soon at all but it is so I hope you enjoy it! I don't have much else to say except keep up the reviews cos there making my write faster and more confidently, if I am doing anything that needs improving please tell me, I love to know your opinion! Thanks  
  
~*~mysticaldreams  
  
Chapter 3: reunions  
  
Lilly woke up early the next morning despite her restless night sleep.  
  
From what she could gather, her sister had come back unreasonably late last night and her father hadn't been too impressed.  
  
She checked her trunk to see if she had forgotten anything before she went downstairs to breakfast.  
  
Her mother was waiting for her, trying unsuccessfully to hide her distressed expression.  
  
"T-tea dear"?  
  
"Yeah, thanks mum"  
  
Mrs. Evens came back to the table with the teapot in her hands. She started to pour it into two brightly coloured cups but as she tipped it her hands started trembling uncontrollably and she spilt half of the tea on the table, missing the teacup all together.  
  
It was only a few seconds until Lilly snapped out of her daydream and realized what her mother was doing.  
  
"Mum"!  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry dear" she said exasperated.  
  
She sat back down and ran her fingers through her long, red, slightly graying hair.  
  
"What's wrong"? Lilly asked soothingly.  
  
"It's just Petunia" she said as if this explained everything, but the thing was that to Lilly, it did.  
  
"She came back so late last night and she just wasn't herself, your father was furious"!  
  
"I know, I heard him" Lilly said glumly.  
  
"Sorry dear" she apologized again.  
  
She shook her head. "Well come on, eat up! You need to be at the train station in half an hour".  
  
Sure enough, in half an hour Lilly, Mrs. Evens and a very disgruntled Mr. Evens had pulled up in front of Kings Cross Station.  
  
Lilly jumped out of the car bouncing with excitement. She hauled her trunk out of the boot and led the way to platforms nine and ten. The three of them stepped through the brick wall inconspicuously and fell into the throng of parents and students saying their goodbyes and boarding the train.  
  
Mr. Evens former furious face had now been replaced with a beaming smile as he looked down at his sixteen year old daughter. Her gold and scarlet prefect badge was shinning proudly on her collar.  
  
"Honey we're so proud of you" Mrs. Evens said hugging her daughter.  
  
"Have a good year Lilly, we'll send you a letter telling you what we are doing for the holidays" Mr. Evens said embracing his daughter in a rib cracking hug.  
  
They both helped her to get her trunk onto the train before saying their last goodbyes.  
  
Lilly got onto the train, searching her apartments, trying to find her best friend.  
  
She bustled down the corridors, lugging her trunk behind her, hoping to find her friend's compartment before the train started, however, while she was searching there was a soft chink on the floor and she looked down to realize that her prefect badge had dropped off her collar and the pin had broken. She cursed under her breath and bent down to retrieve it, though as she got up again she met the fright of a lifetime, her worst enemy was standing directly in front of her. She jumped back from him, disgust written all over her face. It was the hazel eyed, Jet black, ruffled haired wretch himself.  
  
"Well look who's lived up to their expectations" James Potter said, grinning his spotless white teeth at Lilly, whilst looking at her broken prefect badge.  
  
"Look who hasn't" she said smirking with satisfaction at his badge less collar.  
  
"Now, now Lilly, there's no need to rub it in, though there isn't much to rub in, why would I want to be a prefect? It would take all the fun out of life"!  
  
"Yes, well James, some people like rules, they keep arrogant prat's like yourself from annoying them"  
  
"Rules were made to be broken" he retorted "and there's no need for the name calling".  
  
"I'm only stating the obvious" she said smartly.  
  
"That was harsh"  
  
"Does it look like I care"?  
  
"Don't worry, I know you do"  
  
"Can't you just leave me alone"! She screamed  
  
"You're so beautiful when you're angry you know"  
  
"Argh! You're so infuriating"! She yelled.  
  
A couple of heads appeared out of the compartment doors, looking curiously, waiting for the usual scream out between the two rivals that they had come accustomed to.  
  
"Come on Lilly, we've been doing the same thing since first year, can't you keep your voice down, I mean, I honestly don't mind the attention but your really gonna give yourself a sore throat" he said matter of factly. "Besides, you're a prefect now, you have to live up to your responsibilities, and I don't think yelling at me is too responsible" he pointed out.  
  
"You wouldn't know what responsibility was if it hit you on the head! Besides, you better be careful Potter, I may not be able to scream at you all the time anymore, but I can give out detentions" she said willingly.  
  
"Detentions are a breeze, I can juggle"  
  
"What homework"? She asked jokingly.  
  
"Not school homework" he said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.  
  
"Well I'm sorry but as much as a nice little chat this has been, I have to get off to the prefects meeting" Lilly said turning her back on him.  
  
"Make sure you say hi to Remus for me when you get there won't you"? he called after her. She spun around, her red hair flying, he grinned at her and she turned and kept walking down the aisle.  
  
Great! She hadn't completely gotten out of the annoyance of James! But at least it was Remus who was prefect and not Sirius, Remus was the better of the three, you couldn't really count Peter, the day Peter became prefect would be the day Petunia said she was a witch! Lilly thought to herself.  
  
The train had started moving and had a surprisingly long time ago without Lilly even realizing it. She was worried she was going to be late for the meeting.  
  
"Damn James"! She mumbled under her breath.  
  
"What was that"? A friendly voice came from over her shoulder, she span around, and this time, standing in front of her was a tall, brown, shoulder length haired girl with freckles sprinkled all over her nose.  
  
"Hey Miria"  
  
"I thought I heard your calm, cool and collected voice drifting down the corridor" she said with a cheeky grin. "But you know, he does have a point, you are a prefect now and screaming at him isn't gonna set a very good example, but then again, I guess I could do that for you" she said looking proudly up at her friend.  
  
"You know I don't do it on purpose, he provokes me"! Lilly said.  
  
Miria just nodded, knowing that agreeing with her friend would be the best way of getting herself out of trouble. They walked down the hall and sidled into a compartment. It was empty other than a large trunk that held the gyffindor crest in the baggage rack and a small black kitten curled up on the seat, purring loudly.  
  
"Awww who's cat"? Lilly asked  
  
"She's mine, her names Ashes" Miria replied.  
  
"Oh she's adorable, when did you get her"?  
  
"I got her for my birthday from me mum"  
  
Lilly walked up to the kitten and started patting it as it purred.  
  
"Oh my god"! Lilly suddenly shrieked, "I'm supposed to be at the prefect's meeting! I'm already late!". She ran towards the compartment door.  
  
"Lilly the meeting isn't until half past" Miria reminded her.  
  
"Oh yeah, I forgot"  
  
She slumped down onto the leather seat and Ashes jumped onto her lap. With the realization that her broken prefect badge was still crumpled in her hand she took her wand out of her robes and muttered 'repairo'. The pin became one again and she fastened it back onto her collar.  
  
"So, Lupin the boy, Gryiffindor prefect"? Miria asked  
  
"Yeah, at least it's better than that other scum, I honestly don't understand wh"-Lilly cut off abruptly as there was a knock on the compartment door. A girl with waist long, silky black hair and chocolate brown eyes stood in the doorway. Something about her appearance was oddly familiar but Lilly couldn't decide what.  
  
" Um, would I be able to sit with you, all the other compartments are full"? She asked.  
  
"Yeah sure"! Lilly and Miria said in unison.  
  
The girl slid her trunk in the luggage rack and sat down next to Lilly.  
  
"Thanks, my names Andromeda, but you can call me Annie for short, what's yours"?  
  
"Lilly"  
  
"Miria"  
  
"So, you new here"? Miria asked Andromeda.  
  
"Yeah, I transferred from Durmstrang"  
  
"Really! I've read a lot about that school. Why did you leave"? Lilly asked  
  
"I hated it there! But mostly family problems" she said grimly.  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry"  
  
"Nah, that's ok, besides, I've wanted to come here since I started school"  
  
She snatched a look at Lilly's prefect badge and then asked "So are you both in Gryffindor"?  
  
"Yeah, 6th year" Miria answered.  
  
"Really! Me too! I mean I really hope I'll be in Gryffindor, but I'm in but I'm in 6th year, though I'm turning seventeen this year"  
  
"Did you start school late"? Lilly asked confused.  
  
"Yeah"  
  
"I didn't know you could do that" Miria queried.  
  
"Well if you couldn't, my mother made it possible" Andromeda replied frowning.  
  
Lilly decided to turn the conversation around from what she had heard; Andromeda didn't really want to talk about her family.  
  
"Ok, I'll give you a couple of tips" Lilly said to her.  
  
"Alright, what sort"?  
  
"The sort that keep you away from annoyance and disaster at Hogwarts"  
  
"I could definitely do with some of them, I'm dead clumsy"!  
  
"Don't worry, so am I" Miria put in with a smile.  
  
"Number one tip, stay as far away from the Marauders as possible"  
  
"What are the Marauders"?  
  
"A group of four boys that reek havoc around the school" Miria said  
  
"May I also say that they are all arrogant prats and don't deserve to be in Gryffindor" Lilly said indignantly.  
  
"How do I know who they are"?  
  
"I'll point them out to you" Lilly said.  
  
"Tip number two, if you can avoid it, don't talk to any of the Slytherins"  
  
"I've heard about them, horrible people" she said screwing up her nose.  
  
"Tip number three, don't go into the 3rd floor lavatory, a ghost called Moaning Myrtle floods it about once a week"  
  
"And last but not least, stay away from the caretakers cat Mrs. Norris" Lilly finished.  
  
"Oh yeah, and try and stay away from Peeves, though there's no avoiding him when he's after you" Miria said.  
  
"Thanks, I'll try and remember all that"  
  
"Oh shit! Look at the time! I have to get off to the Prefect's carriage, I'll see you when I get back" Lilly took off out the door with one swift wave of the hand and headed off to the meeting.  
  
~*~  
  
The rest of the train ride was highly enjoyable for the three girls. Lilly and Miria got to know Andromeda a lot better and by the time the train had pulled up at Hogsmeade station they were all talking to one another like long friends.  
  
The three of them got off the train and pushed their way through the mingled crowd.  
  
"Ok Annie, here they are" Lilly whispered in Andromeda's ear as she caught sight of the Marauders coming down the platform.  
  
"I now introduce you to the arrogant gits of a century"! Lilly began her commentary.  
  
"First, and the farthest one to the left" she pointed out, "is the whimpering, whining Peter Pettigrew". Andromeda's eyes fell onto a short and skinny boy with mousy brown hair plastered onto his head. He was talking to a tall, ruffled looking boy with brown hair.  
  
"That's Remus Lupin, he's a Gryffindor Prefect with me, you can handle him on his own"  
  
Lilly gave a tremendous sigh. "And the next one along is the most pig headed of them all, James Potter" She said with disgust, spitting out his name like a disease.  
  
"Yeah, if you want some entertainment watch them two fight, it happens at least once every two days" Miria whispered to Andromeda.  
  
Lilly threw her a death stare but kept going. "And standing next to him is the trusty sidekick S"---  
  
"SIRIUS"! Andromeda squealed.  
  
Sirius span around, looking for the person who had called his name, but he got his answer suddenly as Andromeda ran up and caught him in a tight hug.  
  
He looked down at the girls silky black hair and it was only then that Lilly saw the familiar qualities that Annie and Sirius held, they both had silky black hair and the same chocolate brown eyes.  
  
"Annie"! He said rather perplexed returning the hug.  
  
He lifted her off her feet and spun her around joyously. A couple of people turned their heads in the crowd and Marauders and Lilly and Miria all looked on with confused expressions.  
  
"How did you get here"? Sirius asked laughing.  
  
"I copied your idea, I hope you don't mind"  
  
"You ran"?  
  
"No, I flew"  
  
He laughed again and put her back down on the ground.  
  
"Another long lost girlfriend Padfoot"? Remus asked mockingly  
  
"No" they both said in unison.  
  
"Well would you care to explain"? He asked.  
  
"This is my cousin, you know, Andromeda, the one I told you about"?  
  
"Er Padfoot, do you realize exactly how many cousins you have"? James said looking bemused.  
  
"Not those filthy excuses for cousins, the cousins that actually matter, you know, the good ones".  
  
"Oh" They all chorused together.  
  
"I'm sorry but I still don't follow" Lilly said looking at them all.  
  
"That's because your head isn't big enough" James said carelessly  
  
"Oh opposed to your overlarge head that inflates every two seconds" she snapped.  
  
"Ehem" everyone turned their heads towards Peter and he looked a little embarrassed at having all the attention.  
  
"Erm, we're kinda gonna be late"  
  
They looked around at the almost deserted platform.  
  
"Oh shit"! Andromeda cursed, "I was supposed to go across the lake with the first years"! She looked over at the fleet of boats already a quarter of the way across the shining water.  
  
"Ahwell, looks loke you'll be coming with us"! Sirius said happily.  
  
Lilly looked at the now deserted platform and the one carriage that was left, waiting for them.  
  
"Great" Lilly mumbled.  
  
"What"?  
  
"We're going to have to try and fit seven people in one carriage fit for four" Lilly replied.  
  
"Well that's easy Evens; you can sit on my lap"! James said grinning.  
  
"Get a life Potter; I'll walk if that's the way it will turn out". She turned briskly on her heel and marched straight to the carriage.  
  
It turned out that Lilly sat wedged between Peter and Remus, Andromeda sat on Sirius' knees and James and Miria stood doubled over against the carriage wall.  
  
They arrived late at the towering castle, but just in time for Andromeda to join the line of first years, lead by professor McGonagall, ready to get sorted into their houses.  
  
They all whispered her good luck before they crept as inconspicuously as possible into the great hall and up to the Gryffindor table. Lilly thought she saw Dumbledore glance at her and wink but thrust it out of her head as the first years and Andromeda walked into the great hall. She stood out like a sore thumb in the midst of the first years, being so tall, but she held her head high as people whispered, wondering who she was.  
  
Professor McGonagall placed the wooden stool on ground in front of the staff table and sat the battered and patched sorting hat on top of it. She unrolled the long piece of parchment with the new student's names on it and gave the usual instructions to place the hat on top of their head and wait for their house to be decided.  
  
Their was a moment of silence, until suddenly the hat burst out in song, describing all the houses and their qualities and finishing with a smart rhyme of how he would sort them. When the song had finished the rip in the hat closed into the dusty material and Professor McGonagall started to call out the long list of names.  
  
"Blooms, Mary-lea" Professor McGonagall called, and a short girl with curly blond hair protruded from the crowd looking very nervous, and a little bit frightened. She sat upon the stool and propped the sorting hat on her head, which fell over her ears and half covered her eyes.  
  
"HUFFLEPUFF"! The hat shouted and a chorus of applause and whistles erupted from the Hufflepuff table.  
  
The list went on and slowly the group in the middle of the hall shrunk as the new students were placed into their houses. The last first year was called up (Jimmy Goodswing) and placed in Ravenclaw and there was only Andromeda left standing by herself.  
  
"Black, Andromeda" Professor McGonagall called, and a couple of people at the Gryffindor table turned their heads to Sirius at hearing the familiar last name as it was screamed often down the hallways by teachers.  
  
Andromeda walked up to the stool and sat down, placing the hat onto her head. There was what felt like a whole minute of silence that followed and everyone waited in baited breath. The hat finally opened the rip near its brim and yelled clearly:  
  
"GRYFFINDOR"! The small group of seven, if possible made the loudest noise in the hall, Sirius and James making wild cat calls and jumping out of their seats.  
  
Andromeda bounced happily off the stool and ran down to join her friends, taking a spot at the table in between Lilly and Sirius. The applause died down and everyone fell silent as Albus Dumbledore, the school headmaster stood to speak.  
  
"Welcome back everyone" His voice rang clearly throughout the hall, "and a special welcome to our first years and a new sixth year who has joined us, welcome Andromeda. I don't want to bore you on an empty stomach, so eat up"! And with that the usual, enormous quantities of freshly baked food appeared on the tables in front of them, and they all ate happily.  
  
"So, 'ow did 'oo find ou'I ran away"? Sirius asked Andromeda with a mouthful of stuffed potato in his mouth.  
  
"Oh, you know on the grape vine, it was a bit obvious when your mother's head turned up in the fireplace, blasting curses everywhere, thinking that you were hiding out at our place"  
  
Sirius laughed, "yeah, I could imagine that".  
  
"When did you run"?  
  
"Oh, about the last week of the holidays, I got my broomstick out, and I flew"  
  
"Oh, you like flying! What kind of broom do you ha"--- James was cut off in his eager attempt.  
  
"Prongs"! Sirius said "Ask her later"!  
  
"Fine" James said huffily.  
  
"You couldn't have flown all the way from your place to here"! Sirius exclaimed, now munching on a chicken leg.  
  
"No, I stopped in at Uncle Alphard's. He set me up a port key"  
  
"Ah, dear Uncle Alphard! Always setting up unauthorized plans, such a good rebel!"  
  
"Yeah, he gave me a generous amount of gold too"!  
  
"Well considering the amount of expensive stolen goods he has for trade, I wouldn't be surprised! So where are you staying"?  
  
"Well I'll be of age in November so I'm thinking of getting my own place, but I've been staying at my boyfriends' house"  
  
Sirius dropped his fork with a clatter on his plate. "I didn't know you had a boyfriend"!  
  
"Well I met him when we went on holidays in London last month" She said a little nervously.  
  
"How old is he"?  
  
"Twenty one"  
  
"Annie! Are you crazy"! Sirius yelled, though thankfully the chatter around them was so thick that no body except those sitting closest heard.  
  
"Yes, I thought you already knew that"!  
  
"I mean, what do you think your doing?! Staying at some guy's place that you hardly even know, who's what" he counted on his fingers "Four years older than you"!  
  
"I know him very well thank you very much, his name is Ted Tonks, he was born on December 11th, he works at a muggle bank, likes to play hockey and has three freckles on the small of his back"!  
  
"YOU KNOW THAT!"  
  
"Yes I do!"  
  
Sirius looked totally dumbfounded, and flustered at that until Lilly piped up.  
  
"You know Sirius, it isn't that bad, considering how many girlfriends you've had AND what you do with them!" She pointed out, finally joining the conversation after listening to everything while pretending to be talking to Miria.  
  
"How do YOU know that?"  
  
"Oh trust me, I know everything, you don't honestly think that those girls come back and don't brag about how they had such a good time do you?" she said grinning mischievously.  
  
"You know Padfoot, I think that was half a comment" Remus said looking up from his pie.  
  
"It wasn't" Lilly said simply.  
  
"Well if you ask me"-James started  
  
"We didn't" Lilly interrupted.  
  
James ignored her. "I think Padfoot here is being pleasantly concerned and protective in a brotherly way".  
  
"Yeah, he's also being a hypocrite" Peter pointed out.  
  
Sirius threw a potato at him, "No one asked you"!  
  
Andromeda looked somewhat hurt by this outburst but hid the feeling almost as quickly as it came, "Where else was I suppose to go Sirius? To your house perhaps?"  
  
"Of course not to MY house what are you nuts. That would be excellent, I disappear and the least favorite cousin turns up!"  
  
"Then where Sirius go on tell me"? she demanded  
  
"Well I don't know but not with him!"  
  
"Ahhh. The intelligence of the Blacks is clouding his brain."  
  
"Wait.. the Blacks have intelligence?" Lily said her eyes widening in disbelief.  
  
"It is a curse I am afraid. All of the Blacks in Sirius' line are born with the same defined intelligence." Andromeda sighed, "If all else fails just disagree with the obvious.. Tis sad but true"  
  
Lily sighed and looked at Sirius in pity. Sirius redder then a tomato by this point in time looked between Andromeda and Lily in silent disbelief.  
  
"Are you two quite done discussing my intelligence"? Sirius asked quite dumbfounded.  
  
"Actually Padfoot I think they are talking about your lack of intelligence" Remus stated.  
  
"Excuse me?"  
  
"They are discussing your mental capability, commenting on the intelligence which seems to be hereditary within your family, passed down from son to son and the disturbing fact that you have not yet broken away from this stereotypical black past time"  
  
All seven fell dead silent. Sirius' face, completely blank, any thought completely erased from his face. James suddenly broke the silence.  
  
"Moony" he said looking at his friend, "Do you know what the official world language is?" A blank look followed this question. "ENGLISH MOONY, ENGLISH!" he said exasperated. "Speak it!"  
  
Remus sighed. "In other words... They all lent in expectantly....he's an idiot"  
  
"Oh so that is what you meant, well that's sooo obvious"! Sirius said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "And by the way I might like to remind you that I got second most OWL's in the year last year and yes Remus, I beat you! So don't give me stupid!"  
  
At that very point in time Remus was gearing up for a retort but was stopped by Professor McGonagall who tapped him on the shoulder.  
  
"Are you quite alright there you seven? I must say this is very unlikely, Miss. Evens are you going delusional; you're at least one meter within distance of Mr. Potter and his friends. But I am afraid to say that you have forgotten something"  
  
They all looked around at the almost deserted hall, for the second time that day they were the last ones left. Suddenly Remus and Lilly both jumped out of their seats, Remus swearing under his breath.  
  
"Yes, don't worry Mr. Lupin, the first years are waiting in the entrance hall for you both to lead them to the tower, but next time I am not covering for you" She said "and make sure you don't use that language around them either!". With that she swept past them and down back up to the staff table where she vanished through a door to the right.  
  
Lilly and Remus ran into the entrance hall where the first years waited, looking rather nervous at that.  
  
They lead them to Gryffindor tower where all the other Gryffindor'swere waiting for them to give the new password to the fat lady so they could get into the common room. They both apologized continuously while trying to get through the crowded corridor. Once everyone was inside Lilly told her two friends that she was really very tired and needed to get an early nights sleep, Miria went up to the girls dormitories with her as well, before saying goodnight to Andromeda. James, Remus and Peter went off to their own dormitory leaving the two cousins to catch up on all they had missed over the recent year.  
  
######  
  
Well that's it for that chapter folks! Just in case your wondering who exactly Andromeda is, if you look in the noble and most ancient house of black chapter in the 5th hp book, it has a family tree of Sirius'. Andromeda is Tonks' mother, Mrs. Malfoy's and Bellatrix Lestrange's sister and as Sirius says in the book, his favorite cousin. Thanks to my new reviewers also Agloechen, Christopher Nowinski and Shadow of Dreams (Laura). Well I hope you liked it!  
  
~*~mysticaldreams 


	4. Quidditch Trials and Music Boxes

Alright, so this chapter has been put up much later than any of the other ones but I have gone back to school now and it will be about a week or two in between chapters cos I do most of my writing on the weekend. I hope you don't mind the time frame and I apologize if it takes any longer than that, but most of the chapters will be up a week to two weeks apart. Thanks to all of my reviewers, that's why I put up my last chapter so soon! I love it when I get reviews!  
  
~*~mysticaldreams  
  
Chapter 4: Quidditch trials and music boxes  
  
James woke the next morning to the familiar loud bangs and pops echoing around the room that he had come accustomed to over the years.  
  
He sat up and yawned sleepily, pulling back the curtains hanging about his four poster bed.  
  
"What time is it Moony?" Knowing his fried would be up and rushing around already.  
  
"Errrm, six 'o' clock"  
  
"What! How did I wake up that early?!"  
  
There was a grunt from the bed over the other side of the room and Peter rolled over, muttering something incoherent in his sleep.  
  
James groped for his glasses on his bedside table and slipped them on. The blurs around him disappeared as his eyesight returned to it's full strength and he looked over at Sirius' empty bed beside his.  
  
"Hey, where's padfoot?"  
  
"Probably fell asleep in the Astronomy tower with some girl again" Came Remus' voice from the drawn curtained bed on the other side of his.  
  
"You alright Moony? It's not close to full moon again is it?"  
  
"No, it's just ever since Sirius set this stupid alarm to go off every morning I haven't been able to study up here!"  
  
"Look on the bright side; at least we won't be late to class anymore!"  
  
Remus grunted and muttered something along the lines of "you mean you"  
  
"Well I'm going up to the owlery to send a letter to me mum, I forgot my wrist watch again"  
  
"You might want to put on a shirt first though, remember last time when Professor McGonagall caught you walking to the library in your boxers" Remus said amused.  
  
"Ah, what can I say, chicks crave after me!"  
  
Remus snorted, "What girl would be up at six 'o' clock in the morning anyway"  
  
"Good point! Though I did see Lily up at five one morning when we were coming back from our run at full moon, though Lily is incapable of human qualities let alone being a girl" James said thoughtfully. "If I can get the time I'll walk past the Astronomy Tower and wake Sirius up, save Professor Sinistra from another bad fright" he said as he walked out of the dormitory, pulling his school jumper over his head.  
  
He walked down the stairs, making sure he jumped the last one, which Sirius had jinxed to blow sparks whenever it was stepped on the night before.  
  
He was just about to climb out of the portrait hole when something caught his eye. Their was a boy with elegant dark hair slumped asleep on one of the squishy armchairs closest to the fire, and lying beside him, her head on his shoulder, also asleep, was a girl with silky black hair.  
  
It had never struck James how alike the two cousins were; they practically looked like brother and sister. James didn't want to wake Sirius and Andromeda up, but thought it best to since all of the Gryffindor's would be up soon, getting ready for their first day of year. He however, first went to get Remus, leaping up to the boys dormitories again and despite himself he was already forming a plan as to how to wake them both up.  
  
"Well that was quick" Remus said as James swung open the door.  
  
"I didn't go to the owlery, but I found Sirius!" James said with positive glee in his voice.  
  
"Where was he" Remus asked, poking his head around the edge of the curtains surrounding his book covered bed, noticing the all too familiar tone of his friends voice.  
  
"Come and see. I need your help!"  
  
He led Remus down the stairs, but as he reached the bottom Remus stepped on the last step. A shower of red, gold, pink and purple sparks came spurting out of the step and lifted Remus off his feet with a loud BANG!  
  
One of the armchairs occupants snapped awake most suddenly and Sirius yawned "Who stepped on the last step?"  
  
"Nice one Remus! Now we can't scare him!" James said annoyingly before he helped Remus back to his feet and they both walked over to where Sirius was sitting.  
  
Andromeda was still asleep, her head lolling on Sirius' shoulder. He carefully placed it onto his lap and stretched out his arms, yawning unsurprisingly in a doglike manner.  
  
"Heavy sleeper" Remus muttered as he looked at Andromeda.  
  
"Yeah, always has been, she slept through my mother and hers screaming; now that's saying something!" Sirius said sleepily, "What's the time?"  
  
"Six 'o'-  
  
At that moment they all heard soft foot falls coming down the girls dormitory stairs and they turned to see Lily walking down them fully dressed and holding a various number of books. Though when she saw the three boys she turned promptly on her heel and started walking back up them again. As she got half way up she spun around.  
  
"Do any of you know where Annie is?" She asked; all trace of emotion wiped from her face. She studied all of their blank looks and then her eyes fell on Andromeda's peaceful form lying beside Sirius.  
  
"Been doing a little in-breeding" James smirked.  
  
"Funny Potter"  
  
"Oi now James, I object to that too!" Sirius said offended.  
  
"Sorry Padfoot, just trying to keep up with madams high standards!" James said looking at Lily.  
  
Andromeda stirred in her sleep and her eyes suddenly flicked open.  
  
"M-morning" she said sleepily looking up at everybody standing around her as she sat up. "M-mothers meeting is it?" She asked smiling.  
  
"We fell asleep last night"  
  
"Well I figured that!"  
  
She looked up to the girl's dormitory staircase.  
  
"Hi Lily! I think I'll go up and get ready for today, change out of these clothes" She said looking at her rumpled robes.  
  
Both of the girls walked up the staircase, Lily calling after her "You might want to change too James, those boxers really don't go with that jumper"  
  
James looked down at his violent purple boxers that had fluro orange stripes on them to his grey and scarlet jumper and blushed.  
  
"Well I'm going back to bed" Sirius told them both "wake me up when you're going down to breakfast". With that he slumped up the stairs, being careful to skip the first step.  
  
"I'm gonna erm...change and go to the owlery"  
  
Remus smirked, "Since when did what Lily say matter?"  
  
"Well I just thought that since she's going to be my girlfriend soon I should probably start wearing clothes that she likes" James said smoothly.  
  
"Dream on Prongs" Remus said patting him on the shoulder and ascending back up to the sixth year boy's dormitory.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
At breakfast that morning all the marauders were keen to put as much space between James and Lily as possible, though it was usually amusing to watch Lily rave while James came back with his usual smart ass comments, they thought it much to early for them to argue and all already had headaches from hearing the explosive step on the boy's dormitory staircase explode so many times that morning.  
  
Sirius was dozing on the milk jug while Andromeda, equally exhausted, still seemed to manage a cheery smile while talking to Miria about transfiguration, which was apparently her favorite subject.  
  
When the Great Hall was finally full of all the eager awaiting students the timetables were handed out.  
  
"Hey look Annie, I'm in all of your classes" Sirius said as he skimmed over his timetable, his arm still propped up against the milk jug.  
  
Lily groaned as she realized she was as well. She wasn't annoyed that she was in the same classes as Annie, in fact that was a bonus, what she was really annoyed at was that she was, yet again, in all the same classes as James. It was a well known fact that Sirius and James always took the same electives and were always in the top classes.  
  
"So Miria, are you going to try out for keeper?" James asked her while taking a great gulp of orange juice.  
  
Miria was just about to reply when Andromeda whirled around from talking to Sirius.  
  
"You need a new keeper?!" she exclaimed  
  
"Well yeah, Renee left last year, gone to become a secretary at the department of sports and games, don't ask me why, good enough keeper to play for the wasps that girl....." He suddenly snapped out of his little daze and asked suddenly very loudly "Why, do you play?"  
  
"Course I do! I was keeper for our team at Durmstrang, captain too! The only good thing there mind you" she added in a mumble.  
  
"I'm Gryffindor captain" James said proudly, puffing out his chest.  
  
Lily rolled her eyes. "Quidditch" she mumbled from under her breath.  
  
"Excuse me Lily, would you like to share that?" James asked glaring at her.  
  
"No, no I wouldn't want to interrupt you while you're humbly showing off" She said smirking.  
  
"Fine then, but if your going to say something in the future you might want to speak more clearly, if you mumble too much you'll get a sore throat, then you won't be able to yell at me" He said matter of factly.  
  
Lilly slumped down into her seat, she couldn't think of any retort.  
  
"Well tryouts are this afternoon at four, you should come along, you'll have a fair chance" James said importantly, then not being able to hold his excitement he asked "what kind of broom do you have?"  
  
"Latest model of Nimbus, nine-forty to be exact" She said proudly.  
  
"Really! So do I!" James exclaimed  
  
"Here we go" Remus mumbled from above his book, though James didn't notice, he and Andromeda were both talking very fast about the special features of their brooms and how fast they went, how they polish it, what spectacular moves they can make and how it was recommended to international teams.  
  
They all filed out of the great hall and made their way across the fresh, green grass to greenhouse six, where their first herbology lesson for the year would take place. The lesson went well, other than Peter getting nipped on the finger by a snapdragon (because James and Sirius had told him they calmed down when given burtie botts every flavor beans to eat) the lesson was perfect. Though, at lunch the fun and games began.  
  
"You know, I haven't seen Snivellus once since the feast last night" Sirius said thoughtfully.  
  
"Me neither, hey maybe he ran away! Missed his mummy" James said jokingly, putting on a puppy dog face.  
  
"That or he had to go home because he forgot to get his grease can for his hair" Remus said looking up from the book he was reading. They all roared with laughter and at that very moment Snape walked into the hall. Peter jumped, knocking his pumpkin juice off the table.  
  
"What'ya do that for?" Sirius asked wiping the drips of his robes, then he looked up to where Peter was staring and smiled as he saw Snape sit on his own a couple of meters away from them at the Slytherin table. He elbowed James and he looked up from his meat pie.  
  
"Well, well, speak of the devil" James muttered.  
  
"If you're thinking of picking a fight Prongs I would just like to remind you that you have to be at the quidditch tryouts tonight to judge and tomorrow we're having a meeting" Remus said quietly staring at his homework that was placed on his lap "So it might be a good idea not to get yourself detention this week".  
  
"Oh no, don't worry Moony, it won't be anything too Serious" Sirius said grinning "Plus I have a date Wednesday night so I can't get detention till after then" he said brightly.  
  
Peter's mouth was hanging open "You already have a date?!"  
  
"Yes Wormtail, some people are very lucky to be blessed with good looks and charm" Sirius said.  
  
Remus snorted, "yeah and a very big head"  
  
"Whose side are you on?"  
  
"Who's the other side?"  
  
"You know.. THEM!" Sirius exclaimed pointing at Lily and the group of girls around her who were all laughing. "The ones who don't like us, the ones who think we're arrogant, the ones that tell us that every day!" Sirius finished exasperated.  
  
"Well in that case neither"  
  
"You can't not be on either side!"  
  
"Yes I can"  
  
"No you can't"  
  
"Why are we even having this discussion?"  
  
"Because you think he's arrogant" Peter said.  
  
"I never sa"----  
  
James elbowed Sirius in the gut and they both looked around to see Snape exiting the hall and walking through the entrance hall to the grounds.  
  
"We'll be back" James said as he and Sirius got up and started to follow Snape.  
  
"Keep what I said in mind" Remus called after them.  
  
"What, the arrogance?" Peter asked him confused as they left.  
  
"No you git, the detention!"  
  
Sirius and James both walked silently behind Snape, whispering maniacally about what they would do to him.  
  
"Oh I know!" Sirius exclaimed, "We can put the Sonorous charm on him to make his voice echo back up to the hall and make him sing Mary had a little lamb!"  
  
James grinned. "Or, knowing Snivellus, we won't have to make him do anything because he's sure to spit all the filthy words under the moon at us and then he'll be in even more trouble!"  
  
They both sniggered and quickened their pace. But, they only just realized where Snape was going; he was headed straight for the Forbidden Forest. They both stopped in their tracks, not because of fright, but wonder.  
  
"What's he going there for?" James asked bewilded  
  
"I dunno" Sirius replied, also perplexed, but a grin suddenly spread across his face once more as Snape emerged into the thick forest. "I always knew he was up to something! Hurry up James! We have to follow him, if he's up to something and we can pin him for it, he could get expelled!" he continued excitedly. James bounced off behind Sirius and they were both just about to enter the darkened tree line when they heard a voice behind them.  
  
"And what exactly do you think you're doing?"  
  
"Great" James muttered, "Just what we needed". He knew that voice anywhere, he loved it, but it haunted him every time he went to do something fun.  
  
"Why Lily dear, what a nice day to come and take a stroll with us" James said charmingly, turning to face a sour faced Lily, who's arms were crossed on her chest.  
  
"Don't give me that bull shit! I know perfectly well what you were going to do!"  
  
"Oh, and what was that?" Sirius said losing his patience.  
  
"You were going to go into the forest, and you know perfectly well that your not allowed!"  
  
"Has that ever stopped us?"  
  
"It will now! Detention for both of you, tonight at 8, meet me in the common room" She turned around in her usual quick, sweeping fashion and started walking back up to the castle.  
  
"Hey! Lily you know I have quidditch try outs!"  
  
"Consider yourself lucky Potter, I put it later, there's always 5 'o' clock free if you want"  
  
"What about Snape?!" Sirius yelled  
  
"What about him?" Lily asked, getting very annoyed.  
  
"Well he was the one that went into the forest in the first place!"  
  
"Do you really think I'm that gullible?! Like I'm going to believe that he went in there before you both when I just gave you detention! Stop trying to get out of trouble; it doesn't work on me. And ten points from Gryffindor for lying!"  
  
They both gaped at her.  
  
"Well are you going to get back to class or am I going to have to take another 10 off?"  
  
They both walked after her, cursing under their breaths and whispering about how they would pay her back.  
  
~*~  
  
Later that day James and the marauders were all huddled in a corner in the Gryffindor change rooms, talking while James got ready for the tryouts.  
  
"I told you didn't I?" Remus sighed.  
  
"Hey! It's not our fault Snivellus decided to take a stroll in the forest, you would have gone after him if you'd have seen him!" Sirius said defensively.  
  
"I wonder what he was up to." James said, pondering as he tied up his boots.  
  
"I don't know, but I'm just glad Lily decided to give you detention later on today and not tomorrow" Remus stated, "full moon's only next week".  
  
"Don't worry Moony! I've already got a brilliant plan to share at our meeting!" Sirius said grinning.  
  
James jumped off his seat and grabbed his broom from his locker.  
  
"Well I better get out there. Are you guys going to watch?"  
  
"Yeah, Annie's trying out" Sirius said happily  
  
"Oh, oh, I'll stay!" Peter said excitedly.  
  
"I'll stay for a while, but I have to do some homework for Professor Wenaby" Remus replied.  
  
"Good! C-ya then!" James walked over to his other teammates and they all started off for the trials.  
  
As he walked out onto the pitch he met a group of various Gryffindors, all with their brooms and nervous expressions. In the stands were a couple of other Gryffindors waiting patiently to cheer their friends on. James couldn't help but notice Lily and Miria sitting in the first row of seats, waving to Andromeda who had just walked out to join the group, her old school quidditch robes on, looking very professional and slightly intimidating to the other students.  
  
"Ok, listen up!" James yelled over the chatter, "what we're going to do is put you through a couple of test goals with Mandy, Warren and Jacky, our three chasers and Ian and Marcus are going to be hitting the bludgers randomly also, try and block as many quaffles as possible and dodge the bludgers, I'll be searching for the snitch, I'll blow the whistle to signal for the next person to take over".  
  
They all lined up near the stands and the game began. There were about twenty people trying out and it took them a fair few hours to get to Andromeda, who everyone, except the other contestants were looking forward to seeing. When she walked onto the pitch the stands erupted into cheering, Lily and Miria shouting encouragingly, Sirius sending out various cat calls and Remus whistling loudly. Andromeda's face went bright red, but as she rose into the air on her broom, all of the embarrassment was left back on the ground and her expression turned to her most determined face.  
  
James signaled for the game to begin and once more he let the snitch out of his clutch but this time he didn't go after it straight away. He was staring in amazement at Andromeda. Jacky had faked left and then faked left again, swung across to the right and shot for goal. Andromeda had followed left but as soon as she had dove left again Andromeda turned right straight away, ducking the bludger and catching the quaffle with the air of absolute ease. Throwing the quaffle to Warren she took up her position in the middle of the goals once again and Warren started his move for goal.  
  
Within minutes Andromeda had saved every goal thrown by the three chasers and everyone was looking at her in amazement. The other students waiting for their turns were all wearing faces of defeat, rubbing their brows.  
  
"Well looks like we've found our new keeper!" James yelled across the pitch.  
  
Andromeda nearly fell off her broom in excitement and soon the people in the stands caught on by the excitement of the team and Lily, Miria, Sirius, Remus and Peter were all cheering joyously. Andromeda landed on the ground and Lily and Miria both ran out to congratulate her. When James landed also Andromeda ran up and caught him a hug.  
  
"Thank you so much!"  
  
"No problem, you're the best keeper I've ever seen!"  
  
Sirius also came running onto the pitch. "You were fantastic!" He beamed down at his sister-like cousin.  
  
"Thanks"  
  
"Well I have to be off, don't want to be late for detention Lily" James said smirking at her.  
  
"Good because if you are it will only go for longer" She said just as smugly.  
  
Sirius shook his head, looking at them both.  
  
~*~  
  
Lily sat on her bed in the 6th year girl's dormitory, reading standard book of spells, grade 6 and musing over how much she was looking forward to sending James and Sirius to a detention.  
  
Andromeda came in and sat down next to her on her bed.  
  
"I hear your sending Sirius and James on to detention" She said smiling.  
  
"Yeah, look, yesterday when we were on the train, about what I said"---  
  
"Hey don't worry about it, I know Sirius can be an idiot, It's just, compared to the rest of my family, he's practically a saint, and that's saying something!"  
  
It was the first time Lily had seen Andromeda smile while talking about her family and she was amazed.  
  
"And I thought my sister was bad"  
  
"I have two and their both horribly freaky" Andromeda said looking into space "Narcissa and Bellatrix, mother's probably setting them up with beautiful pure blood boyfriends as we speak" she said disgusted.  
  
"Pure blood mania hey?" Lily asked a bit uncomfortable.  
  
"That's why I left, I couldn't stand all the freaky traditions and over bias opinions, same reason as Sirius, we were always different to the family, that's why we got along so well. We didn't get to see each other often though, but we always sent letters, that's how I came to know so much about Hogwarts"  
  
Lily was quiet for a while, taking in all her friend had just told her, not being able t to think of anything to say. She finally piped up, saying something that she thought was quite pathetic but thought might help Andromeda cheer up.  
  
"Well your mother and mine both seem to have the same idea on something, they both have an obsession with names! I mean Lily and Petunia! You can tell she likes flowers!"  
  
"Yeah I know, Narcissa, Bellatrix and Andromeda! Who could think of names like that?!" She laughed, "Though I do like the name Nymphadora!"  
  
They both laughed, falling backwards onto the bed. Then something caught Andromeda's eye, it was sitting on Lily's bedside table, it was a small box, but slightly different, it had a metal piece sticking out of the side and a dancing girl in a pink frock was set on a platform inside the lilac bottom. The box was filled with tiny trinkets, from brooches and earrings to small newspaper clippings and black and white photo's. Lily saw Andromeda staring at it and smiled.  
  
"I got that off my grandmother when I was eight, I love music boxes, they're so enchanting, that one sings somewhere over the rainbow, I've been filling it with little bits and pieces that I loved of hers and little memories. She died when I was ten, my grandpa died when I was just three. I remember when they were cleaning her house after she died and I used to snitch tiny trinkets of hers and hide them in this box" Lily said, dazing into space, reminiscing.  
  
"I'm sorry, it would have been much worse to have someone you loved leave you than to leave a family who hated you" Andromeda said sympathetically. She looked at the box curiously, "How does it work?"  
  
Lily picked it up and twisted the metal leaver around to start up the sweet music. Andromeda stared at it, pleasantly taking in the beautiful music and watching the ballerina slowly spin around  
  
"It's so beautiful" she said in a dreamlike voice, "Can I have a look?" She then asked pointing at all the little bits and pieces filling the velvet box.  
  
"Yeah, sure, I have to go down to the common room for detention giving, you can keep it for a while if you want" Lily replied, smiling at her friend before walking over to the end of the room and closing the door quietly behind her.  
  
######  
  
That's it for chapter 4! Please tell me if you think I am making the chapters too long because I need to know. Thank you to all the reviewers for chapter 3 and my message: Marie4, Agloechen, someone, Li-chan, GinnylovesHarry, Biddett da Pigeon Stalker, James-Padfoot and Hyper Fairy Queen. I hope you liked it and I'll try and have the next chapter up soon!  
  
~*~mysticaldreams 


	5. Detention for the thousandth time!

Alrighte! Here is the next chapter! I'm really sorry it took so long to put up this chapter but I've had a lot of assessments but I'm hoping that the next chapter won't take as long! Well thanks to my reviewers! Hope you like the chapter!  
  
~*~mysitcaldreams  
  
Chapter 5: Detention....for the thousandth time!  
  
"Padfoot"!  
  
"What"? Came Sirius' gruff voice from underneath the covers of his bed.  
  
"We're going to be late for detention" James yelled from the other side of the room.  
  
"Tell Lily I came down with an incurable disease" Sirius said, still tangled in the bedclothes.  
  
"Yeah and how many times have we told that one"!  
  
"You haven't, it's way too obvious" came Remus' voice from his once again curtain drawn four poster.  
  
"Well I'm sure James can come up with some ungodly excuse"! Sirius pouted.  
  
"Well that's true but I'm going down, I don't know about you but I'm not challenging the scariness of Lily Evans"! James said, "Good luck Padfoot, I'll try and convince her but I doubt it'll work"! He then walked down the stairs and came face to face with Lily at the bottom.  
  
"You're late" Lily said to him, her best impression of professor McGonagall on.  
  
"Yeah, only by 1 minute"!  
  
Lily looked over his shoulder, "Where's Black"?  
  
"I'm sad to say that he has come down with the flu, it's highly contagious, Madam Pomfry told him to stay in bed"  
  
"He looked fine this afternoon; I highly doubt he could have caught the flu in between 2 hours" Lily said raising her eyebrows.  
  
"Anything's possible" James shrugged.  
  
"Alright Potter, you're wasting my time, go up and tell Black that if he isn't down here in one minute I'll go up there and drag him out"!  
  
"Aye, aye captain" James saluted.  
  
Lily was left waiting at the bottom of the stairs and within 30 seconds James had emerged from the dorm again.  
  
"I'm sorry Evans but he won't come, I told you, he's sick" James said, hoping his face showed at least some sincerity.  
  
"Bull crap"! Lily snarled and started to stomp up the stairs.  
  
"Ahhhh Lily I wouldn't go in there if I was you, it's a bit messy and um Sirius has been sick a couple of time on the floor" James said barring the door. Lily pushed him aside in her fury and aggressively threw open the door, hearing it bang loudly as it collided with the inside wall.  
  
"PETER HOW MANY GOD DAMN TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU NOT TO SLAM THE DOOR"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Remus yelled frustrated, then as he turned around from rummaging through his trunk his expression turned from anger to surprise.  
  
"What tha"---- ?!?!  
  
Lily turned to face him "I'm sorry Remus but I have come to retrieve your friend for detention, I'm sorry if I've disturbed your studying but I have had enough of his stupid excuses"!  
  
"Thought that might be the case, I can't study up here anyway" He replied waving his hand at the lump that was Sirius curled up in his bed, snoring as loud as a giant.  
  
Lily strode up to the bed and pounded on Sirius' back. "Sirius Black you good for nothing stupid git, get up now! You are NOT getting out of detention"!  
  
Sirius rolled up into a ball and took no notice of this comment whatsoever.  
  
James leaned against the door frame laughing and Remus sat on his bed, suppressing his laughing as best he could.  
  
Lily than ripped the many blankets off him and threw them onto the floor.  
  
"Lily" Sirius whined, "have some sympathy"!  
  
Lily however did not reply, she was too pre-occupied trying to drag him from the bed by yanking at his arm with all her might. By this time James was sitting on the floor, hugging his stomach, tears running down his face from laughing so much and Remus was crawling over to join him.  
  
Lily spun around and glared at them, "It's not funny! I thought you would know better Remus, being a prefect, it's a great responsibility and if you don't put your act together than I'm just going to have to tell Professor McGonagall"!  
  
Remus stopped laughing abruptly. He suddenly jumped up, crossed the room to Sirius' bed and whispered something into his friends' ear.  
  
Sirius leaped off the bed and hid behind it.  
  
"You prat! They are too on"! he yelled, looking down at his crumpled black robes and long grey trousers.  
  
Remus smirked and Lily hid her amusement.  
  
"Well would you look at the time! We've already managed to waste ten whole minutes, looks like you boys won't be getting much sleep tonight or should I say tomorrow morning"  
  
At that very moment Peter came bursting into the room, slamming the door into the wall.  
  
"PETER HOW MANY GOD DAMN TIMES DO I HA"----  
  
Remus stopped mid-sentence, staring at Peter as everyone else was in the room, he was running into the walls, banging his head on everything in sight, wincing every time and looking like he was struggling to say something, rasping for breath.  
  
"Errrrrr... Wormtail, what exactly are you doing"?!?! James asked with his best 'what tha"? look plastered on his face.  
  
Peter's tongue was lolling out of his mouth and he had a very pained expression about him as he once more banged his head into the bed post. He suddenly managed to rasp out something that they all strained to hear, but made no sense whatsoever:  
  
"Shaphs" Peter gasped as Sirius tried to hold him still.  
  
"What"?  
  
"Shnaphe"  
  
"Snape"? Lily asked.  
  
Peter nodded before banging his head into the window pane.  
  
"Stupid, bloody, ass of a git"! Sirius muttered.  
  
James gave one swift wave of his wand, muttering a counter curse under his breath and Peter slumped onto the floor, grasping at his chest and heaving.  
  
"Thanks" he gasped.  
  
"How did you run into Snivellus"? Remus asked.  
  
"I was heading down to the kitc"------  
  
Peter was cut off by a loud cough made by James.  
  
"Ahhhhh....the library I mean and I ran into him"  
  
"Literally ran into him"? Sirius asked, bemused.  
  
"Errr..yeah" Peter said, his cheeks turning rosy.  
  
"Well as touching as this story really is I'm afraid it will have to wait for later as we are already fifteen minutes late"!!!!! Lily screeched.  
  
Sirius jumped away from her, backing towards the door.  
  
"Alright, alright, let's go then, I already have a headache and quite frankly I would rather not get a migraine" Sirius said rubbing his head.  
  
"Adios" James called as he closed the boys' dormitory door behind him and the three of them walked down the stairs and out of the portrait hole.  
  
Lily led them all the way to the Library, walking briskly and not uttering a word, she only spoke when they were standing in front of the Library door.  
  
"Aright, Sirius, you'll be helping Madam Pince to order the encyclopedias in alphabetical order and yes, all of them".  
  
Sirius opened his mouth to say something but Lily cut him off, eager to tell James just exactly what he was going to do, savoring every moment of it.  
  
"And James you will be helping Filch get all of the Droobles best blowing bubble-gum off of the desks on the third floor without magic" She said grinning widely. However, She looked at James and he was grinning right back at her.  
  
"I'm sorry Lily but you will have to give my poor friend padfoot here that rather disgusting job you were taking so much enjoyment out of giving to me as he is not allowed to set foot into the Library and hasn't since third year because he blew up the whole Q section"  
  
Lily looked at him, her mouth hanging open. "You're probably just making that up"!  
  
"He's telling the truth" Sirius said brightly, looking extremely proud of blowing up the Q section.  
  
Lily looked like she would burst with anger.  
  
"Fine" she said through clenched teeth, "Both of you get to it then and don't slack off, when you've finished give your slips to Madam Pince and Filch and they will both fill out what time you finished, so on and so forth, I expect you know the drill since you've been through it about a thousand times" She then walked away feeling rather agitated, back to the common room.  
  
"Well Padfoot, want to take a short trip to the kitchens before we slave away"?  
  
"Don't even think about it you two"! Came Madam Pince's voice from inside the library door, "Potter in here, Black down stairs NOW"!  
  
They both trudged off to their respective places, muttering dully.  
  
~*~  
  
Lily stomped up the girls dormitory stair case, her anger was slowly wearing off but she was still annoyed that she hadn't been able to get back at James. Though all of her remaining fumes were swept away as she entered the dorm to find Miria and Andromeda both laughing hysterically, holding their stomachs.  
  
Lily smiled at them both, "What have you two been up to?" She asked as she sat down on Andromeda's bed.  
  
Miria handed her a picture out of the violet music box and at first glance of it Lily squealed and went bright red.  
  
The picture was of course of her, but it wasn't any normal picture, she was dressed in a bright pink too too with pink, frilly lace and fluffy ballet slippers. But the worse thing was that she was sitting, asleep on a chair, her mouth hanging open with a trail of saliva running down her cheek. She was only five years old, and the picture would have been cute save the fact that her too too and slippers made her look hilariously comical.  
  
"Ahhhhh! I thought I burnt all of these! How did they end up here?!"  
  
Lily was now sifting through another couple of equally embarrassing baby photos in her music box.  
  
Andromeda finally caught her breath and sat up next to Lily who stuffed the various photos in her robes.  
  
"You were adorable!"  
  
"Yeah, adorably ridiculous!"  
  
"Ahwell! We all have our embarrassing moments...Even if you have them every day!" Miria said.  
  
"Yeah but you can just laugh it off!"  
  
"That's what you learn to do"  
  
"Wow, these are beautiful Lily!" Andromeda exclaimed as she picked up a pair of silver earrings out of the box. They were sparkling diamond Lilies, small and petite, the sought that suited Lily well.  
  
Miria leaned over and goggled at them as well.  
  
"Where'd you get them? They're gorgeous!"  
  
"Well I found them on the windowsill in my room on my birthday but all the card said was Happy Birthday, without a signature or anything"  
  
"Ooooo, looks like Lily has a secret admirer" Miria teased.  
  
"Yeah right! It was probably from my cousins, whose parents made them send me something and the rich little brats didn't want to show they cared!"  
  
"That's a likely version but I like my story better"  
  
"I'm sure you do" Lily mumbled.  
  
"Well I'm really tired, I'm gonna go to bed" Miria yawned.  
  
"Alright but before you do I have a surprise for Annie!"  
  
"What for? I love surprises!"  
  
"Getting into the Quidditch team of course!"  
  
Lily bent down under her bed and retrieved a small shoe box. She whispered 'Alohomora' and tapped the lid with her wand.  
  
She then pulled out a think, silver bangle and handed it to Andromeda.  
  
A grin spread across Mirias face and she pulled up her pajama sleeve to show an identical bangle.  
  
Andromeda then noticed that Lily was also wearing one.  
  
"These are really pretty!"  
  
"Yeah and that's not the only good thing about them, Watch this!"  
  
Lily pulled her wrist close to her mouth and pressed what seemed to be a tiny silver flower on the bangle. She then whispered something and pressed the small flower again.  
  
Andromeda looked thoroughly perplexed until she suddenly realized that the bangle was heating up in her hand and small blue letters were starting to appear on it, they looked like they were melded into the silver.  
  
The letters formed into words saying: our handy way to contact one another.  
  
Miria then did the same thing and this time, in purple writing, the bangle spelt out: Cool, isn't it?!  
  
Andromeda stared at them in amazement.  
  
"These are awesome! Where'd you get them?"  
  
"Well we bought the bangle and then it was just a matter of a couple of charms! You can use them wherever you go, you just have to press the silver flower and whisper into it and it will appear on the other bangles" Lily explained.  
  
"It's got us out of heaps of trouble!" Miria put in.  
  
"Really, I never thought you two would be the sought of students to get into trouble!" Andromeda chided.  
  
"Only when Lily's mouthing off at James!" Miria teased.  
  
"Shut your mouth or I'll wash it with soap!"  
  
Andromeda smiled at her two friends and leant over to hug them. "Thanks guys"  
  
"Well I'm off to bed! I just hope that Alice and Claudia don't make a racket when they come back up from the common room" Miria said as she closed the curtains around her bed.  
  
Lily smirked to herself, "I wonder how Potter and Black are doing with their detentions" she voiced out loud.  
  
"They're probably slaving away under your hard order!" Andromeda joked.  
  
"Well, unlike them, I'm going to try and get some sleep tonight!" Lily said happily.  
  
"Good idea"  
  
"Yeah and someone is still waiting for quiet!"  
  
~*~  
  
However, both of the girls were wrong, both James and Sirius were sitting in the boys dormitories playing yet another game of wizards chess, In fact, it took them only precisely 43 minutes to finish their detentions.  
  
"So how did you do it?" Remus asked as he watched James' knight chase one of Sirius' pawns off the board.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"Get out of detention so soon?"  
  
"Oh, well since most of that bubble gum was from me it wasn't too hard to find" Sirius said, moving his queen towards a quivering castle.  
  
"James?"  
  
"Well I, the king of all-knowing, had absolutely no trouble displaying my literacy skills by putting the whole five hundred and ninety seven encyclopedias in alphabetical order!"  
  
Sirius snorted and patted James on the back, "Keep on dreaming mate, keep on dreaming!"  
  
#####  
  
Well I know that wasn't a very interesting chapter and it wasn't as long as most but the next one I hope is going to be more exciting, well not exciting as in action but as in interesting....oh I give up! I'll just shut up and write the chapter so you can see what it's like for yourselves! Thanks for hanging with me and don't forget to review!  
  
~*~mysticaldreams  
  
P.S. Oh yeah, how could I forget my faithful reviewers! Thanks to: Biddett da Pigeon Stalker, Agloechen, Hyper Fairy Queen, James-Padfoot! Thanks! 


	6. Two sides to every story

Hi everyone! Next chapter! YAY! I'm really sorry this chapter again, took longer to put up and yes I'm sorry that it is shorter as well! This chapter was actually gonna be longer but then again, you know I'm spontaneous! (Did that make any sense at all ?! Oh well!) Thank you SO much for all the reviews! I was SO happy! You guys are great! Oh yes and I have realized that when you put the speech marks you put the exclamation marks and question marks and that inside the speech marks so yeah, I'll try and remember to do that (thanks Biddett!).  
  
~*~mysticaldreams  
  
Chapter 6: Two sides to every story.  
  
"Padfoot hurry up!"  
  
Sirius whirled around from talking to a very pretty, curly blond Hufflepuff to give Remus his most penetrating death stare.  
  
"What'd he do that for?" Peter asked  
  
"Well think about it Wormtail, if a stunningly beautiful girl came up to you and started flirting with you and your friend told you to hurry up what would you do?" James asked, pitying his fellow marauder for his lack of knowledge with girls.  
  
"Well no girl would come up to me anyway, the last time I was in physical contact with a girl was when I tripped over Lauren Castledien and she slapped me in the face!"  
  
Remus smirked, "that image will be plastered in my mind forever!"  
  
Sirius finally waved goodbye to the blond haired beauty and walked back over to his friends.  
  
"Well, mission accomplished!"  
  
"Padfoot, you really need to find a new hobby" Remus said as they walked up the stairs out of the entrance hall.  
  
"Well I can't help it if chicks swarm over me!"  
  
"Your head is growing just as big as James'"  
  
"Ah Uh, no ones head grows as big as mine!"  
  
"You said it"  
  
They reached the boys dormitories and James walked over to the mat in the far corner, shifted it aside and pulled out his invisibility cloak and the marauders map from underneath a loose floorboard.  
  
"You know, I wonder if years from now, the next generation of students and we hope mischief makers to live in this very room, will find all our hidy holes" Sirius said thoughtfully.  
  
"It's a possibility" Remus said looking at his watch, "Look Padfoot, you've made us fifteen minutes late! We're never going to get any sleep tonight!"  
  
"Well I'm sure we can sleep in the room of requirement, it's comfortable enough!"  
  
"Yeah we've already tested that!" James said, smirking at Remus.  
  
"Well I can't help it if I was tired and I just happened to think of a nice squishy mattress and pillow when we were walking past the room!" Remus justified.  
  
"Well come on, get underneath!" James said as he held up the cloak. It was a bit too small for all four of the tall sixteen year olds to fit under, though they managed to all squish together, just hiding there feet.  
  
They walked along the corridors, checking the map every now and then to make sure no one was in their path. When they reached the eighth floor they all stopped in front of the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy and his ballet of trolls (who were all trying to hit him over the head with their clubs) and walked past the blank wall three times.  
  
James opened the door that appeared and they walked into a brightly lit room with comfy silk cushions spread on the floor and a large bookcase filled with books of various charms and mischievous spells. There was also a small table with a couple of bottles of butterbeer and creamed pastries on it and many small artifacts that looked mostly like Zonko's products filled some shelves at the back of the room.  
  
"Ahhhh! Home sweet home!" Sirius sighed as he flopped down onto one of the red cushions and grabbed a bottle of butterbeer.  
  
"You know Peter, I don't know why you're always thinking of food when you're here but I don't mind it anyway! I just wish you would think I fire whisky for a change, I've only ever tasted it once and I still haven't been able to get my hands on any more of it! Though butterbeer will do me good!" James said, joining Sirius.  
  
"Well if you ask me I think it's highly disturbing that all you two ever think about is wreaking havoc and girls!" Remus said, skimming the bookshelves.  
  
"Well at least we think of two things! You only think of study!" Sirius defended.  
  
"How do you know what's going on in my head!" Remus snapped.  
  
"Maybe we should just let him go to sleep" Sirius muttered in James' ear.  
  
"Well come on! Who's got some ideas for this full moon?" James asked innocently.  
  
"Oh I do!" Peter squeaked as he spilled butterbeer all over his robes.  
  
Sirius sighed and performed a charm to clean it up.  
  
"What's your suggestion Wormtail?" James asked.  
  
"I think we should go past Hogsmeade and see what's after it"  
  
"Oh yeah, sure!" Sirius said sarcastically.  
  
"Wormtail, come on, you know I can't go that far! What if there's muggle town beyond it, what will they say if they see a stray werewolf on the run, I only just let us go on the outskirts of Hogsmeade! It's way to dangerous" Remus said looking at Peter.  
  
"Well does anyone else have any suggestions?" James continued.  
  
"I do" Sirius said automatically.  
  
"Here we go!"  
  
Remus sat down and grabbed another of the butterbeers.  
  
"Well I was thinking"-  
  
"That's dangerous!"  
  
Sirius threw another of his death stares at James.  
  
"I was thinking that we could pay the greenhouses a visit!" Sirius said this with such evil glee that everyone looked at him as if he was a psycho maniac on the loose (which was partly true).  
  
"To do what exactly?" Remus asked, coming out of the trance.  
  
"Well as you know, Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor in the first quidditch match of the season"  
  
They all nodded, waiting for him to go on.  
  
"Well I was thinking we could begin it with a bang!"  
  
"You're NOT going to blow up the greenhouses, just because professor Sprout is the head of Hufflepuff house that is no means to"-  
  
"Hold your pixies Moony! I'm not THAT destructive!"  
  
"Coulda fooled me!" Remus muttered.  
  
"Although you know how much I like big bangs that wasn't the plan I was going for. Just think, if we could sneak into one of the greenhouses and maybe give some of the hedges a little trim, into a lion shape and letters that spelt out 'GRYFFINODOR WILL WIN' could you imagine the look on their faces!" Sirius finished with a wide grin.  
  
James grinned back at him. "I like it"  
  
"One problem" Remus stated.  
  
"What?" they both asked in unison..  
  
"How exactly WILL we get in their? The greenhouses are always locked after lessons"  
  
"Alohomora" Peter piped up.  
  
"Hey, good one Wormtail!"  
  
"mmm...i don't know, I think Sprout would lock them with stronger magic that can't be opened by a simple first year charm" Remus said logically.  
  
"Yeah, true"  
  
"I'll check some books and see if you can get stronger charms and counter curses" Remus said bouncing happily over to the high bookshelves.  
  
"Alright, I'll have a look at some of this stuff" Sirius said pointing towards the many Zonko's products.  
  
"Yeah me too" James said, eagerly following Sirius to the table.  
  
"Well I'll...errr....eat!"  
  
~*~  
  
Lily's eyes snapped open as an ear-piercing scream ripped through the air.  
  
She leapt out of her bed and crossed to another nearest to her, that she was sure the scream had come from. There she found Andromeda sitting bolt upright, sweat covering her face and tears streaming down her cheeks, a face of pure terror.  
  
Lily saw Miria rush to the other side of Andromeda's bed as well, her face showing the worry that Lily was feeling.  
  
"Annie! ANNIE! What's wrong?" Lily asked, placing her hand on Andromeda's shoulder, trying to steady her uncontrollable shaky.  
  
Andromeda was thoroughly distraught, she didn't utter a word. She just kept shaking and the tears wouldn't stop leaking from her eyes.  
  
Miria and Lily looked at one another, concern written all over one another's faces.  
  
"We better get Madam Pomfrey" Lily said starting to rise, but Andromeda suddenly caught her arm with a grip as cold as ice.  
  
"Sirius" she sobbed.  
  
Lily would have objected at all costs to go into the boys dorm again, but as she took another look at Andromeda's ghostly white form she hurried to the door, passing her two other room mates who were both looking equally worried.  
  
Lily ran up the boys dormitory stairs and burst into the marauders room, quickly flicking on the light switch.  
  
James looked around from his drawn curtained bed to look at Lily with uttermost surprise.  
  
"Evans what the hell are you doing up here? It's three am in the morning!" This was a very large sentence for James to come up with when he was half asleep and Remus, who had been waken up by Lily's racket would have congratulated him on stringing the words together except he was too pre- occupied watching her as she as she was shaking Sirius awake.  
  
"Sirius wake up!"  
  
They could all hear the definite tone of urgency in her voice now.  
  
Sirius sat up slowly.  
  
"Evans isn't it a bit early to be giving out detentions?"  
  
"It's Annie!" Lily said desperately.  
  
"What? What happened?" Sirius asked now fully awake.  
  
"She screamed and woke up, she's shaking all over and wouldn't say a word until she asked for you" Lily said hurriedly, but Sirius had already jumped out of his bed and sprinted to the door.  
  
She ran out after him just in time to see him stare exasperated at the stairs leading up to the girls dormitory. However, he put his foot on the first step and then the next and the stairs didn't change at all, he stared at them for a while, perplexed and then sprinted up them, two at a time.  
  
By the time Lily got into her dorm Sirius was already by Andromeda's side, hugging her soothingly, like a big brother protecting his little sister.  
  
He rocked her back and forth, comforting her with whispered words.  
  
Lily was amazed, she had never seen this side of Sirius before, to her he had always been one more pain in the ass to handle, but this time she actually saw the serious side, the side which hardly anyone had ever seen.  
  
As Andromeda started to settle down Sirius pulled away from her to examine her face.  
  
She was very pale and had tear streaks coursing her cheeks.  
  
"You'll have to go to the hospital wing" he now said, examining her sweaty palms, "Madam Pomfrey will be able to give you a potion for your fever".  
  
"Is she going to be alright?" Miria voiced the question everyone wanted to know.  
  
"She'll have to stay overnight" Sirius said helping the shaking Andromeda from her bed.  
  
"Has this happened before?" Lily asked curiously.  
  
Sirius Studied Lily's face, obviously weighing up whether he should tell her or not. He sighed, "Every couple of months". But he didn't explain any further, he just picked up Andromeda's arm and swung it around his neck to support her as she tried to stand straight.  
  
Lily ran up to help but Sirius stopped her.  
  
"It'll be alright Lily, I can help her to the hospital wing, get some sleep, she'll be alright, I'll tell you how she is in the morning"  
  
Lily and Miria were both a little put out by this objection but they both decided not to argue, it didn't seem right to fight with a serious Sirius.  
  
They both then walked down the stairs, and again, it didn't change. They both watched as they stepped through the portrait hole and out of sight.  
  
####  
  
Hope you liked it! Yes and in the next chapter I will explain the stairs thing! Well anyways I hope you liked the chapter and PLEASE review because I just LOVED getting all those reviews last chappie! Thanks! You all rock! James-Padfoot, Fire of Ice, blackdragonofdeath13, x-woman1, Headmaster Cromwell, slippersRfuzzy and Kiwi, Shadow Of Dreams, mystical boot, Agloechen, Biddett da Pigeon stalker. Thanks!  
  
~*~mysticaldreams 


	7. Anonymous Animagi

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I know the last two chappies have been pretty short but there's been a lot happening at school! Thanks to my reviewers: Agloechen(did you get my email about the Pirates of the Caribbean thing?), shortnsassy, JCtigerwolf4e, Mequel, pan weasley kent, James-Padfoot and Biddett da Pigeon Stalker (it was ment to say shaking not shaky sorry!)  
  
~*~mysticaldreams  
  
Chapter seven: Anonymous Animagi.  
  
Lily and Miria rushed to the hospital wing after a quick breakfast that morning, eager to see how their friend was.  
  
After harassing Madam Pomfrey enough to let them see her, the nurse lead them down the rows of beds to Andromeda's.  
  
Andromeda was sitting up in bed, propped against many pillows smiling her usual cheerful smile, though slumped at the bottom, near her feet was a tall lanky boy with gorgeous limp hair, his head was rested on the bed while his body was falling off the chair he had been sitting on.  
  
Lily and Miria took seats next to Andromeda and she beamed at them radiantly. At first it seamed that all thoughts from last nights events had been erased from her features, but as the morning suns beams reflected off the windows and onto her face the golden light outlined the dark shadows under her eyes and the exhausted wrinkles in her brow.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Lily asked Andromeda as she gazed out the window at the sunlit grounds.  
  
"I'm fine!" she said brightly, "I should be getting to lessons today"  
  
"Miss Black do not even think about it!" Madam Pomfrey said as she shuffled around, collecting the various vials and glasses on the bedside tables, "you need rest"  
  
Andromeda sighed, "I'm fine" she mumbled.  
  
A silence followed, Lily took the opportunity to think of how she was going to say what she wanted to ask.  
  
"So.What happened last night? I mean is everything ok?"  
  
Another uncomfortable silence followed until Andromeda finally talked.  
  
"Yeah, I just had a nightmare, that's all" She half whispered in a haunted voice.  
  
She then suddenly snapped back to reality.  
  
"God! Look at the time! You two better head off otherwise you'll be late for class" She exclaimed.  
  
Lily and Miria both jumped up out of their seats.  
  
"Thanks Annie, we'll drop in after lunch to see you" Miria said as she slid on her bag.  
  
As they both went to walk out Lily caught a side ways glance at Sirius.  
  
"Oh and you might want to wake him up, he's going to miss the first lesson"  
  
"I'll let him sleep a little longer, he was up later than me but can you tell James so he doesn't think he's in the astronomy tower" Andromeda said with a grin.  
  
Lily smiled back at her and nodded.  
  
They both walked out to leave Andromeda to ponder over what she had said and what she was hoping no one would find out.  
  
~*~  
  
"She's not telling us something Lil" Miria said worriedly as they both walked quickly towards the transfiguration room.  
  
"I know, she's not telling the whole truth anyway, Sure, everyone gets scared from nightmares but that couldn't have just been a nightmare and Annie doesn't get scared easily" Lily said furrowing her brow in thought. "I think I'll go look in the library after lunch, maybe it'll have something"  
  
"That or we could ask Sirius"  
  
"Over my dead body! You know I never ask those boys for help unless it's a dire need"  
  
"Yes but Sirius is the only one who knows other than Annie"  
  
"Sirius would do anything Annie asked him to, do you really think he'd tell us something she obviously wants no one to know?"  
  
"Good point, come on, let's talk about this later and just get to transfiguration" Miria said cursing as she looked at her watch.  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius joined the class later on that day, looking both exhausted and worried. Lily couldn't help but notice that when he met up with the marauders at their usual desks he shook them off and gave them a knowing look as in 'I'll explain later'. She was curious as to what he was going to tell them, and wondered if she could somehow eves drop on them.  
  
~*~  
  
"So Annie has nightmares, but doesn't everyone" Remus stated as the four boys sat in Gryffindor common room, in a tight nit circle around the fire.  
  
"I do and for some reason in all of them Sirius is chasing me around with a club" Peter said.  
  
"That's not a dream Wormtail, Sirius did that yesterday"  
  
"Oh" Peter said giving Sirius a dodgy look; however, Sirius wasn't taking any notice of his friend's antics.  
  
"Padfoot? You there?" James said waving his hand in front of Sirius' face.  
  
"What? Oh yeah, what did you say?"  
  
James sighed, "Mate I haven't seen you like this since you left from Grimmauld Place, and even then you were more angry then worried"  
  
"I know, I'm just concerned about her, that's all"  
  
James suddenly got that sneaking feeling that someone was watching him, he sometimes got that feeling when he was playing a prank and most of the time when it happened, he was usually right, his animal instincts had certain after affects, some which were good, others not so good, such as Sirius' dog-like manner of eating, but he pushed that to the back of his mind. He turned around to scan the few people who were left in the common room and his eyes fell on the unmistakable chestnut hair of Lily Evans, who was sitting on the lounge closest to them, reading a book upside down. He grinned, and the other marauders, noticing where he was looking, stared at Lily as well. The moment she saw James turn his head she had gone back to supposedly reading her book and only just noticed that it was upside down.  
  
"Oh shit!" she cursed under her breath.  
  
"Yes Evans, shit is right, how long have you been listening to our convocation? I mean, I don't mind if you take interest in what I say but it is a bit rude to listen in when you're not asked" James asked in his usual arrogant tone.  
  
Lily's face reddened, out of fury or embarrassment no one could tell but she spoke calmly.  
  
"All wanted to know was what is wrong with Annie"  
  
"She told you this morning" Sirius said.  
  
"How did you know that, I thought you were asleep?"  
  
Sirius just grinned at her, the first true grin that had appeared on his face all day.  
  
Lily was feeling extremely stupid at that moment and wasn't under any circumstances going to stick around any longer to get even further humiliated, so she just turned around started towards the girls dormitories.  
  
"Hey Evans wait two!" Sirius shouted after her.  
  
"What?"  
  
Sirius stared at the girls dormitory staircase that Lily was currently a quarter of the way up.  
  
"How exactly did I get up there last night?"  
  
"Why should I tell you?"  
  
"Because I'm handsome, popular, cute, sexy, sweet, cunning..."  
  
"You make me sick!" She spat.  
  
"Come on Lily just tell me!"  
  
"Tell me what's really wrong with Annie then"  
  
Sirius went a little pale at this request and looked slightly baffled.  
  
"You just heard us, she has nightmares" Sirius justified.  
  
"You don't honestly think I'm that stupid?"  
  
"Do I have to answer that?"  
  
"Come on now Padfoot your taking over my roll, I'm supposed to be the one that gets on her nerves the most!"  
  
"You're both the most annoying people around here anyway!" She said raising her voice.  
  
"You know she does have a point Padfoot" Remus said calmly.  
  
"What that we're annoying? Whose side are you on man?!"  
  
"Not that your annoying, though it is true, that's not what I was getting at, from what I've heard no one reacts like how Annie did last night to that 'nightmare' and Annie is known for being hard to scare"  
  
"So maybe Annie is a bit sensitive in this situation!" Sirius said, starting to get defensive and dropping the annoying act.  
  
"Sirius just tell us" Lily sighed, obviously getting sick of this continuous ranting.  
  
"I can't" he mumbled "I promised her I wouldn't"  
  
"But why?! What could be so bad that she wouldn't tell us?"  
  
At this point in time Remus shuffled his feet on the carpet and suddenly became very aware of how interesting his hands were.  
  
"Maybe she's a werewo"-  
  
"Well would you look at the time! We better get some sleep, potions test tomorrow and I have a lot of studying to do!" James said clamping his hand over Peter's mouth.  
  
James dragged Peter up the stairs, Remus and Sirius following quickly behind, before Lily new it the four sixteen year olds were out of sight, not even giving her a chance to yell that James never did study anyway. So she ran up to her dorm to inform Miria on the little information she had found out.  
  
~*~  
  
"YOU STUPID BLOODY DOLT!" James yelled as soon as soon as the door was closed to their dormitory. "You could have gotten Moony found out!"  
  
Peter cowered under James' tall form and managed to whimper out "I'm s- sorry, you kn-know I have a big mouth"  
  
"Damn right you bloody well do, so we'll just have to fix that, won't we?"  
  
Without giving Peter a chance to comment James took out his wand, muttered "renarpio" and Peters lips automatically sealed together.  
  
"There, much better!"  
  
Peter slumped down in defeat and lay on his bed to sulk.  
  
James then looked over at his other two friends, Remus, who surprisingly had no trace of anger on his face, rather a thoughtful frown and Sirius, who was rummaging around under his bed.  
  
"Padfoot?" Remus said rather loudly, making everyone jump, including Sirius who banged his head on the bottom of his four poster, he then continued with a various trail of swear words while he brang his head out from underneath the mess.  
  
"What?" He asked, rather annoyed.  
  
"Is Annie a werewolf?" Remus asked and everyone could note the uncomfortable tone he had asked it in, they all understood what he must have been thinking about.  
  
"No!" Sirius said, suddenly becoming very alert.  
  
"Oh ok, I was just wondering"... Remus trailed off. He knew he should feel glad that she wasn't, but he felt somehow disappointed. He had never met another werewolf, and he'd always felt that talking to his friends about his own unbearable nightmare every full moon just wasn't enough, though his friends were the most supporting people he had ever met, they didn't know how it felt and it seemed that there was something missing, he needed to talk to someone who new exactly what he was going through, someone who had also experienced it. He knew it was stupid, how could Annie be a werewolf? She doesn't disappear every full moon like he does and she definitely hadn't shown any signs of battle with herself. But the regretful hope had lingered there for a while and he felt ashamed at himself for wishing it even in the slightest.  
  
His friends looked at him worriedly as they saw him gaze out the window at the now three quarter moon. He sighed deeply.  
  
"Well I guess we'd all better get some sleep, it'll be full moon tomorrow night"  
  
None of them questioned any more, they all heard the tone of finality in Remus' voice and to this Sirius was grateful as he didn't want to be badgered about Annie any longer.  
  
~*~  
  
"Sirius hurry up!"  
  
"SHUTUP!"  
  
"Man it must be that time of the month again" James said, taking no precaution whatsoever to keep his voice down as he looked at the curtain drawn bed of Remus'.  
  
"I don't know what he'd do without us" Sirius stated with a grin as he rummaged around under his bed, once again. Though the only reply they got from Remus' bed was a low moan.  
  
"Migraine"  
  
"Do you want me to get Madam Pompfrey for you?" Peter asked happily, trying to snatch up the opportunity to get out of class.  
  
"NO! I want you to get out before I eat you!"  
  
Peter squealed rather girlishly and ran down to the common room as a pair of sox came flying over Remus' bed trying to hit him.  
  
"Tut, tut, we do have PMS today"  
  
There was a moment of silence.  
  
"Permanent Moon Syndrome of course!" Sirius put in.  
  
Remus stuck his hand around the curtain and made a rather rude gesture to them both.  
  
"Ok, we can take a hint, c-ya tonight Moony"  
  
Remus made a low grunt noise that the boys took as a sufficient 'bye' and they closed the door to the dormitory to head off to their classes.  
  
~*~  
  
That night the three boys walked over the moonlit grounds under James' invisibility cloak to the Womping Willow where there friend would be waiting in his killing form.  
  
They all got under the shade of the outskirts of the forbidden forest to transform, Peter into a grey rat, Sirius into a black dog and James into a proud stag.  
  
Peter ran under the thrashing branches of the Womping Willow to push in the knot in the trees trunk so it became motionless. The night went suddenly silent as the three animals made there way down the tunnel to the Shrieking Shack and to their friend.  
  
James stood guard at opening of the tunnel as he was too tall to go the full length of it as it became smaller as it went farther down.  
  
After waiting in boredom for half an hour or so he heard soft footfalls on the hard dirt floor and the quick scampering of a rat running. As a dog, rat and werewolf came into view he put his antlers down to signal for them to stop and then poked his head out of the hole to check if the coast was clear. There was no one in sight on the lonely grounds and only a few windows were still lit in the castle.  
  
The four of them leaped out of the hole and bounded towards the forest, Sirius and James keep close to there werewolf friend and Peter feeling highly important by leading the way.  
  
They had explored many parts of the forbidden forest since they had figured out how to become animagi last year and had indeed found the many different animals that lived there, being able to talk to some, some best to keep away from (they had definitely found out why the Forbidden Forest was forbidden when they ran into a huge spider and had to run for their dear lives), Though Sirius swore he saw a unicorn wink at him once, but the others thought it very unlikely.  
  
Sirius bounded into the long green grass and scratched an S into the tree trunks that they went past with his claws so as they wouldn't lose their way. They often wondered if anyone noticed the scratches though nobody ever went into the forest except for themselves, the animals (if you could call some of them animals) in the forest who never came out and the new grounds keeper, who hadn't been in the forest much since he arrived. So they were pretty much safe from being found out by anyone and enjoyed the night while it lasted.  
  
Peter bounded off in one direction that they had gone many times beforehand, to spy on the centaurs, which explained why they all got full marks in care of magical creatures, James had been seen by them once but they took no notice as they were all bickering about whether Mars or Venus was the brightest, which they all thought was rather amusing.  
  
After finding no centaurs about and realizing that it was starting to get early they doubled back and jogged around the outskirts of the forest, towards the greenhouse where they had planned to pull their prank.  
  
Though as Peter scampered along in front of the others an unusual black owl swooped down towards him. Peter looked up at it and squeaked frantically, trying to make his short legs run faster into the safety of the trees, but the owl was too fast, it was gaining towards him every second. It would have been a funny sight to see though as it was a matter of life or death for Peter, he didn't really think so.  
  
Sirius was the first one to catch on to what was happening and ran to Peter's rescue. Just as the owl was stretching out its claws to grab the rat he leaped onto Peter and casually sat on him.  
  
The owl was amazed, it just stared, its chocolate brown eyes boring into Sirius' and Sirius stared back at it, equally surprised.  
  
The owl rose up into the air, practically invisible in the dark night sky and glanced at the other two animals, a stag and a strange looking wolf, who were both cantering over to the others. It swooped down once more to land on the dogs head gracefully.  
  
Now all were thoroughly confused, that except Sirius, whose large dog eyes held a pool of guilt.  
  
The owl made eye contact with the dog again and flew into the trees, Sirius following after it. The other three marauders stood in confusion, watching as the two animals disappeared into the outskirts of the forest. They followed slowly behind, the werewolf growling and the still shaking Peter scampering under James' tall form for protection.  
  
As Sirius and the owl moved into a small clearing, Sirius barked madly as he saw what the owl was about to do, however the owl took no notice and immediately transformed. And there, standing right in front of the dog, was no other then Andromeda Black, sporting a very confused look at that.  
  
The werewolf's nose hit the icy air and his eyes went searching madly, he started to run at full speed, the stag cantering wildly after him. He could smell human flesh and he couldn't resist but long for the taste of blood in his jaws and the bite of skin in his razor sharp teeth. Remus didn't have any control over this monster anymore; it had fully taken over him.  
  
As the werewolf made its way into the clearing Andromeda gave out an ear piercing scream as she met eyes with the ferocious monster. It lunged towards her, but the stag and the dog leaped in front of her, blocking the werewolf's way just in time for her to transform back into her animagi form. The werewolf thrashed its teeth at them, and clawed as the stag lowered his head to show his antlers and the dog snarled at it menacingly. They formed a guard on either side of it until it finally stopped its attack, leaving both of them with large gashes in their sides and itself with even worse wounds.  
  
Sirius looked up to the slightly dawning sky but there was no trace of Andromeda to be found.  
  
~*~  
  
OoOoOoO! Dun dun dunnn! Well I hope this chapter was satisfying as I know I haven't updated for AGES! But now it's the holidays so I will have heaps more time! Ok well for all you L/J peeps hanging on the line for something to happen, It'll be posted within the next couple of chapters but I promise that the next chapters will be interesting and it will include quidditch! I just thought that I would also let you know that I might be changing my pen name to Mystical Dreams instead of mysticaldreams and that I have a new story up called Emotive which is a fic full of little fics that are humorous, romantic depressing etc. Well I hope to update soon!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams 


	8. Confessions

Hi everyone! Well this is the next chapter, and I have to say that I had a lot of trouble writing this chapter because I just couldn't get the emotions right so it ended up that my sis helped me out a lot with it so yeah, some of it is hers. Oh and I forgot to ask last chappie, does anyone know how to use italics and bold on fanfiction? Cos it's really annoying not knowing how! PLEASE review cos I have only got one for the last chapter and it's holidays guys! I have more time to write! Thanx!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Chapter Eight: Confessions.  
  
"That was close" James said as he lay on his bed, exhausted.  
  
"Too close" Sirius added, looking up at the ceiling.  
  
"Yeah I know, but on the bright side, it gives our hero skills practice!" Sirius said with a grin, sitting up and flexing his muscles, "Yep I still got the magic touch."  
  
"At least you didn't nearly get eaten!"  
  
"Oh come on Wormtail! Annie wouldn't have eaten you; it would have ruined her teeth! She has way better taste than that anyway. She would have gone for some sort of delicacy, although that does leave the question of what a delicacy is to an owl."  
  
"SIRIUS BLACK YOU HAVE SOME DAMN DEEP EXPLAINING TO DO!"  
  
Andromeda Black stormed into the boy's dormitory in a fuming rage.  
  
Peter huddled himself up in a corner, trying desperately to hide from Andromeda as best he could.  
  
"Annie! Are you alright?" He said with unconcealed concern in his voice.  
  
"YES SIRIUS I'M FINE! I JUST NEARLY GOT BITTEN BY A WEREWOLF, NEVER BETTER!" She kept yelling at the top of her lungs.  
  
"I WANT A FULL EXPLANATION OF WHAT JUST HAPPENED RIGHT NOW!"  
  
Peter gave a loud squeal and backed away from her frightfully, covering his eyes with his hands.  
  
She just looked over at him pathetically.  
  
"Annie you're in shock, sit down and calm down"  
  
Andromeda looked like she was going to spark flames from her eyes as they bored into her cousin.  
  
"Well if you had of cared to tell me that you ran around with a werewolf then maybe I wouldn't be this angry!"  
  
A very uncomfortable silence followed, giving Sirius enough time to try and think things over.  
  
"Look" he said softly, "We'll all go to the hospital wing, where Madam Pomfrey has probably by now taken Moony and when we get there and get checked up we will all explain to you what has happened"  
  
Andromeda sat in thoughtful silence for a while before grunting out a rather forced "fine", trying to conceal her guilt as she caught sight of the wounds they both held.  
  
"C'mon Prongs, we're going to have to try and think of an excuse to tell Madam Pomfrey as to how we got this way and before you even think about it Annie we can NOT tell her that we are all unregistered animagi."  
  
James rose slowly from his bed with a short wince and went to help Sirius up.  
  
They both walked out of the dormitory, with Andromeda at their heels and Peter following about ten metres behind, avoiding Andromeda's eye's as much he could.  
  
It was now roughly about five thirty in the morning and they were all grateful to find that not many people were up yet.  
  
"So have you got any ideas?" Sirius asked James.  
  
"No not yet, well not any that she would believe anyways"  
  
"Yes well, she has heard some queer stories from us over the years" Sirius said with a grin.  
  
"You could tell her that you two were having a fight and accidentally fell over the hearth in the common room and then you were both firing curses at one another or something along those lines" Andromeda put in, in a much calmer voice than before.  
  
"That might work! I mean we usually fight" James said brightly.  
  
Andromeda looked at them incredulously.  
  
"You two haven't turned the cold shoulder on each other since I've been here!"  
  
"Oh we don't hold grudges Annie! We take it out physically, who wants to keep fighting if you can let it out by pain!"  
  
Andromeda sighed and shook her head at them both, slightly disturbed by this statement.  
  
They soon reached the hospital wing and James knocked quietly on the door.  
  
Madam Pomfrey came bustling over to open it; she was already fully dressed and looked quite disturbed.  
  
"What do you want boys?" she asked, annoyed, but then her eye caught onto Andromeda.  
  
"Andromeda! Good god girl, what are you doing out of bed, and in your school robes at this time of the morning?! You're supposed to be resting in that bed over there!" She said worriedly, pointing a slim finger behind her.  
  
"I um.I remembered that I had a Transfiguration test today and I forgot to study yesterday, I needed to get my books from my dorm and I bumped into these three"  
  
Madam Pomfrey looked at Andromeda uncertainly and then gestured for them to come inside, muttering about teachers over-working students and not letting the sick some slack.  
  
"Well what's wrong?" She asked, sighing as they took a seat on one of the beds.  
  
Sirius pulled back his robes slightly to show her the deep gash on his arm and she looked slightly stunned. She then looked over at James whose robes were dabbed with blood as well.  
  
"What in merlins beard have you two been doing?!"  
  
"Well we kind of had a little fight and we both tripped over the hearth in the common room near the fireplace"  
  
Madam Pomfrey didn't look convinced.  
  
"And we were aiming some pretty heavy curses on one another" Sirius added with ease, obviously he had lied many times before.  
  
At this she looked like she believed them a little more since they WERE both top students and would most likely know harmful curses enough, and they were boys, that pretty much said it all.  
  
Andromeda looked around to see one other bed occupied, its curtains closed and a low moaning sound coming from it.  
  
"Well Mr. Pettigrew, is their anything wrong with you?" she said as she finished dabbing a liquid onto the gashes and bandaging them up.  
  
"No! I'm, I'm fine!" He said rather nervously, glancing at Andromeda who just glared back at him.  
  
"Alright then, it'll take a while for them to heal boys, at least an hour anyway, and Andromeda dear, I would like to do a check up if you don't mind before you go to lessons, just to make sure you're alright"  
  
Andromeda sat down on the bed as the boys got up.  
  
"Err.Madam Pomfrey?" James asked hesitantly.  
  
"Yes"  
  
"Would we be able to see Remus be any chance? We heard that he had a bad fall last night, down the stairs and we'd like to see if he's alright"  
  
Madam Pomfrey looked nervously at them both, she didn't know that they knew about Remus being a werewolf, they thought it safer to keep it to themselves.  
  
Her features turned sympathetic and she managed to convince herself that it shouldn't be a problem, "Oh, alright boys, but he's in an awful state, maybe you can cheer him up a bit"  
  
They smiled at her and retreated down the wing to where the curtains were closed around a bed.  
  
Andromeda could hear them whispering frantically to him as she got checked up. When she was finished Madam Pomfrey went back into her office to leave them with their friend.  
  
Annie walked up to the bed, her head reeling with thoughts and questions that had so far all been unanswered.  
  
As she approached the whispering ceased immediately and she looked around the edge of the curtain to find Remus lying on his stomach with various deep gashes and scratches running down his back like claw marks. She winced at the sight, turning away, and then suddenly, as if everything had clicked she caught on.  
  
"You're- you were the werewolf" She said looking at Remus with empathy.  
  
His head was buried in the pillow and he nodded it slightly up and down as he turned to the side and sighed.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked her in a croaking voice.  
  
"Y-yeah I'm fine, just a bit shocked"  
  
Annie sat down in a seat next to James, her eye's wide open.  
  
Remus felt like a icy cold liquid had been spread throughout his body, he didn't know what Andromeda was thinking, and he hoped with all his might that she wouldn't shun him because of what he was, he couldn't bare to loose a friend because of his curse. He didn't want his friends to tell her that he had been the werewolf, but he knew deep down that he owed it to her to tell her and that all fingers pointed to him; he knew she would find out anyway.  
  
"S-so that's why you're animagi" She said looking at Sirius.  
  
"Yes, and so are James and Peter"  
  
She nodded slowly, and then added, hoping to lighten the mood, "I wasn't going to eat you Peter, I need to have some way to amuse myself!"  
  
"I don't imagine he'd taste very nice anyway" Sirius put in.  
  
Peter just squirmed in his seat with a small smile.  
  
"I don't imagine I'd taste any good either" Andromeda said smiling at Remus.  
  
There was a short creak at the door and they all turned but no body could be seen so they took it for the wind.  
  
"Let me guess, James you were the stag." Annie said turning to the boy sitting on her right  
  
"Of course! The most noble and proud!"  
  
At this Annie let out a short laugh and the tension in the room eased.  
  
"So, you don't mind that I'm a werewolf?" Remus asked her nervously.  
  
"No! I mean you can't help it and you're only like it once a month, and even then you don't have any control over yourself"  
  
"Thanks" he said smiling weekly.  
  
"What I want to know is why you're animagi" James said looking at Andromeda with interest.  
  
She frowned slightly then sighed and started, "Well"-  
  
She was cut off by a loud clash coming from the other side of the door and then a series of curses and frantic whispering.  
  
James got up from his chair and walked over to the door to open it. When he did he met eyes with a certain red haired Lily and a very embarrassed Miria lying in a tangle on the floor.  
  
"heh, oops!" Miria said, her face going a bright shade of red.  
  
James had an expression of amusement, disappointment and anger mixed into his usually proud and stubborn features. Lily didn't know what to make of his feelings at that moment.  
  
She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out, however, her mouth remained open. James was dressed only in long pants; there was a patch on his right shoulder and small scratches covering his muscular chest then her eyes rested on a bandage wrapped right around his mid torso, its usually white colour was now blood red, evidently drenched in the blood that was escaping his body.  
  
James cleared his throat, which made Lily's head snap up to meet his expressionless eyes. There seemed to be a blind pulled down so that no emotions could escape.  
  
"What are you doing here?" He asked in a voice devoid of emotion. She had never heard James like this.  
  
"I came to see Annie; we were bringing her school things down to her." Lily realised that her voice was shaking, and she challenged herself as to why.  
  
James' expression softened and emotion returned to his face.  
  
Lily sighed in relief; she'd rather see the teasing, immature James then that emotionless, quite scary expression.  
  
"Well, well Evans, not saying much are we? Cat got your tongue?"  
  
"Well no. It's just. Well I thought." Damn it, Lily thought, why can't I get a sentence out!  
  
"You alright Evans?" James enquired offering her a hand to assist her off the floor. Lily took the help up.  
  
"Yes. I mean of course. that is to say why wouldn't I be. but ." Lily mentally kicked herself for being unable to put a coherent sentence together. "You're bleeding." She finished lamely.  
  
"How observant of you to notice" Sirius finished dryly as he too wandered out into the hall.  
  
Sirius had a bandage around his left upper arm, though he had not been deprived of his shirt he had been stripped of his trousers and stood before them in only boxer shorts. The reason for this seemingly quite obvious for there was a bandage entwining his calf and knee on his right leg. His face was hard and his expression unmoving.  
  
Miria winced from her place on the floor and James held out his hand to help her to her feet. She rose slowly rubbing her backside, where, evidently she had fallen. The four stood there for a good 2 minutes just staring, two of them in an expressionless way and the two girls in shame and embarrassment.  
  
"Well then my little mice. you came to see Annie. no need to keep her waiting." Sirius said in an icy tone.  
  
Lily and Miria trudged into the hospital wing as one would approach a guillotine.  
  
"You know you really shouldn't try to over hear a conversation, you're really bad at it" Sirius observed pointedly.  
  
At this minute the REAL Lily kicked in.  
  
"Well YOU shouldn't be keeping SECRETS from ME, a PREFECT!"  
  
"What on earth are you on about?!" Sirius questioned, but his voice held a notable tone of panic to it.  
  
"We heard everything you said" Miria said quietly.  
  
They all stared at her with their mouths open and as they approached Remus' bed all that could be seen of him was his gashed back as he had covered his head with his pillow.  
  
He then spoke a hardly coherent sentence under the pillow.  
  
"I'll wake up and it'll all be a nightmare" he said dully.  
  
Both of the girls looked at him sympathetically but couldn't find words to describe what they wanted to say. Lily spotted James out of the corner of her eye and she thought she saw him looking at Remus in a way that can only be described as inexpressible sadness, but as soon as he noticed her eyes on him the blind was pulled back down and his features were no more readable to her than a French textbook  
  
James sighed. "Well I guess you're going to tell Dumbledore that we're unregistered animagi, now are you?"  
  
"No, I actually wanted to hear what Annie had to say and hear your full story so I don't get the wrong idea" Lily said calmly.  
  
James and Sirius looked at her incredulously and even Remus took the pillow off of his head to look up at her, but Andromeda just smiled at her friends and mouthed a thanks.  
  
"But don't think I'm doing this for you" Lily added, trying to come back to her usual self, "Annie's my friend and I don't want her to get into trouble"  
  
"Fair enough" James said, "Sirius do you want to do the honours?"  
  
"Right, well I might as well start when we actually became animagi"  
  
Sirius told them all about their transformation and why they had done it (smartly leaving out the part where they had stolen a book from the restricted section and trying his best to leave the invisibility cloak and marauders map out) and the events of the current night. When he had finished they all sat in silence until Lily, being the very opinionated person that she was, decided to pipe up.  
  
"I won't deny that it is very stupid and dangerous and I should tell Professor Dumbledore" she admitted, "But for now I really want to know why you're an animagi Annie"  
  
Andromeda sighed for the fiftieth time that day and everyone (well Remus and James) became slightly more attentive.  
  
"Annie you might as well tell them, they're gonna find out sooner or later" Sirius said, looking over at her.  
  
"Alright, the reason I'm an animagi is because I'm part sear, I have visions in the form of nightmares and transforming into an owl helps to clear my head, well that and owls are nocturnal and it allows me to avoid sleeping when necessary"  
  
They all looked at her silently as she fiddled with her fingers.  
  
"But what's so bad about that?" Lily asked.  
  
"Well, you see, being a sear isn't something that many wizards and witches are too keen on because most of them are frauds or just plain crazy" Sirius explained.  
  
"In other words, they don't have a very good reputation, I mean, look at Trelawney, anyone would swear she was stark raving mad!" James put in.  
  
"Did anyone already know about this?" Miria asked, looking at James suspiciously.  
  
Sirius put up his hand.  
  
"Well obviously, but James?"  
  
"No! I didn't know about it!"  
  
Lily was amazed as to how he could wipe all sense of emotion from his voice and features.  
  
"No, James didn't know about it, he's just totally void of emotion, plus, you would have known if he did because I was the only one who knew she was sear and if I had of told him deliberately I wouldn't be looking as gorgeous as I do now"  
  
Lily couldn't help but smile at her friend's brilliance.  
  
But James' unemotional face was starting to nag at Remus and soon he realized why.  
  
"You did know, didn't you James" he questioned.  
  
James and Remus merely stared at each other for a while and then James sighed.  
  
"Ok so I did know about it"  
  
Andromeda stared at him with her mouth open and then looked over at Sirius in a fury until she realized that his face read the same amazement as hers.  
  
"How, what?" he managed to splutter out.  
  
"Well you see Padfoot, buddy, you have a certain weakness of talking in your sleep" he said with a cheeky grin and then continued in a very good imitation of Sirius.  
  
"No Annie, don't have a nightmare tonight, the future's so boring and I'm too tired"  
  
Sirius looked at him with a blank expression until he unwillingly turned around to see Andromeda's face.  
  
She didn't look too impressed but didn't say a word.  
  
"Or their was that time when you were talking about your date with that Anna chick in Ravenclaw," James said thoughtfully before lapsing into his Sirius voice "Oh Anna, you have such beautiful"-  
  
Sirius clamped his hand over his friend's mouth and then whispered something in his ear that made James turn a pasty white and shut up.  
  
"So didn't your family know about it?" Peter asked. Everyone jumped at this sudden question from him, the always quiet boy who had shown absolutely no sign of attentiveness.  
  
"Well yes, they had to didn't they, I was born with it, but it's not like they cared anyway" She scathed bitterly.  
  
Sirius decided to steer the conversation away from their family as it was usually a pretty touchy subject and onto something else.  
  
"So Lily, now you know about Annie, you can tell me how I got up those stairs into the girls dormitories"  
  
Lily looked at him blankly for a while and then snapped back to reality.  
  
"Oh that! Have you ever read Hogwarts, a History?"  
  
"No, I've never stepped foot in the Library before!"  
  
Lily shook her head slightly.  
  
"Well if you're wanting to know to see how you can get up there again don't even bother"  
  
Sirius looked slightly disappointed but urged her to go on.  
  
"The staircase has a sort of emotional reading charm on it, it can sense urgency in a persons emotions, so it can sense if you have good intentions or not" Lily said smartly.  
  
Remus smiled, he could have told Sirius and James that three years ago but he found it highly amusing to watch them try and devise plans in their spare time as to how to get up there. His mood has risen dramatically as the subject had been taken off him and onto something else. He was starting to have more confidence in Lily and Miria as to them not telling the headmaster, after all, they were one of Andromeda's best friends, but he couldn't imagine the unforgettable guilt that kept on hanging around him about betraying Dumbledore's trust. Though his thoughts stopped there as the school nurse came bustling down the rows of beds towards his.  
  
"Come on everyone, Mr. Lupin needs rest and you need to have breakfast yet before classes" she said and then shuffled down towards some of the other empty beds to collect glasses and potion cups.  
  
Sirius and James both looked down at there bandaged arms and waists to find all of the blood completely gone and as they took them off, only small scars were where the deep wounds had been.  
  
Remus looked at Miria, Lily and Andromeda with a sense of pleading in his eyes.  
  
"You won't tell anyone, will you?"  
  
"No. As long as you don't tell anyone about me" Andromeda said kindly.  
  
He then looked towards the other two girls.  
  
Lily sighed, "I won't tell about you being a werewolf, and even though I don't like the idea of unregistered animagi running around, I mean it is breaking the law, and if you got caught, who knows what would happen, I just can't believe".. She stopped as she saw Miria's stare boring into her. "I won't tell" She finished with.  
  
James looked up at Lily and flashed her one of those smiles, the really grateful ones that make your insides do a summersault, one that says everything even though no noise is made.  
  
"Umm. Evans" Lily snapped back to reality when she realised there was a hand waving up and down in front of her eyes. She jolted when she realised who it was, James was standing there looking distractedly past her.  
  
"Potter I was simply thinking, which is more then I can say for what you do with your miniscule brain"  
  
"Ahhhhhh. Yes, perhaps you are right Evans. But the point is that you admitted I have a brain" James stated, walking past her through the door pulling his shirt over his head as he went.  
  
"You know Lily, you better be careful, the way you are drooling, anyone would think you fancied him," Annie stated.  
  
Lily opened and closed her mouth a couple of times until she finally said something, "You KNOW I hate him Andromeda Black! I would rather date a banshee then go out with him!" And Lily also exited the hospital wing.  
  
Remus and Annie looked at each other and smiled knowingly without saying anything.  
  
~*~  
  
Well everyone I hope you liked that chapter! You can probably pick out my sis' stuff cos she's been around longer then me and has a bigger vocab! I'm trying to type quietly at the moment (it's not working!) because it's 7:10 in the morning and all the rest of my family are still in bed, and I would be too (since I don't usually start walking around until ten) except I really needed to pee! (You really didn't need to know that but I thought I would put it in for your own humour) Well then, I shall go now and since I have nothing else to do (don't you love hols?!) I will start to type up the next chapter! Adios all!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams 


	9. Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff

Hi everybody! This chapter is up WAY sooner then I expected but anyways.thank you to my reviewers: Biddett da Pigeon Stalker: yes! The plot does thicken!...actually I think it starts to get a little lighter after this and then it thickens again.ahwell! I better not give it all away!  
  
Laura: Thank you for pointing out the mistake, I didn't realise it at all! Don't worry you're not being a perfectionist. If I get the time I'll go back and change it! Thanks, I hope you keep reading!  
  
Agloechen: I'm really sorry about the wait up for your reply but my hotmail account won't let me send an email to you for some reason so here is the answer or my own prediction to your question about PotC: You asked me how Will's father Bootstrap Bill died, well i'm pretty sure this is right! It says in the movie that Boostrap died when they tied a cannon to Boostraps boostraps and the last they saw of him he was sinking down to Davie Jones' Locker (took me forever to realize that that was the bottom of the ocean!) but the thing is that even though he had stolen the medallion from the chest all the other pirates had stolen that treasure as well, the curse hadn't begun until they started to trade all of the treasure for money and goods, that's when the curse started (Barbosa explains this to Elizabeth when they first have dinner together on the Black Pearl) So they needed Will's blood because really, Bootstrap Bill started the curse on them. Well I hope that helps, happy reading and I hope you had a great holiday!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Chapter nine: Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff  
  
"You know it's hard to believe that three unregistered animagi and a werewolf have been running around every full moon for almost a year now and no one has even noticed" Lily whispered softly into her bangle to Miria and Andromeda's, who were sitting at opposite ends of the classroom, due to the fact that Professor Sinistra, after much yelling had put them all into seating arrangements.  
  
'Lily, it's been at least three weeks since we found out about them being animagi and you still haven't shut up about it!' Mirias purple writing appeared on her silver bangle.  
  
'I just want to know how they get around all the time without being noticed' Andromeda's red writing spelt.  
  
'Well yeah, good point, I mean, they can't just waltz along the corridors at midnight without being seen by at least one teacher' purple writing came up on her bangle once again.  
  
"There are many things about the dreaded marauders that we will never find out" Lily whispered.  
  
'Lily shut up! Sinistra's looking right at you!' red writing formed.  
  
Lily immediately went back to pretending to read her notes on Jupiter's moons. She usually paid attention in Astronomy, though since she had already learnt this stuff a hundred times over she really couldn't be bothered with revising.  
  
'Why do they always put us in alphabetical order?' purple writing spelt out as the Professor turned her back once more.  
  
Lily could just imagine her friends whining tone.  
  
'I don't know but it really sucks cos I get stuck with Sirius and because he's not sitting with his mates, he feels the urge to annoying me instead!' Andromeda's red writing formed.  
  
'Yeah well I get stuck between Pettigrew and the annoying, giggling Miranda Pine from Hufflepuff, why the hell is my last name Pending? Why?'  
  
Lily stifled her laughter at her friends comment and whispered back.  
  
"Well I'm just glad I'm not near any of them and I have this bangle"  
  
'Lucky' the purple writing formed.  
  
Lily went back to her notes until her bangle warmed on her wrist again.  
  
'It's the first quidditch match of the season next week' Andromeda's red writing spelt.  
  
'Gryffindor verse Hufflepuff isn't it?'  
  
'Yes, James has been working us harder then ever, says we need to start with a good win'  
  
"You'll win, Gryffindor's won the Quidditch cup for five years in a row now" Lily whispered.  
  
'Hope so, the way he's going on about it, it's like it'll be the end of the world if we don't win, and it's only the first match!'  
  
'Guys are very passionate about quidditch, especially Potter' Miria's purple writing formed.  
  
"A bit too passionate if you ask me" Lily whispered just as the bell rang. She gathered her books together and met her friends at the door and they walked together down to lunch.  
  
~*~  
  
"So, what do you think?" Remus asked James as he looked over at him after explaining at full length an idea he had had to up his grades by studying more.  
  
James just stared into space.  
  
Remus waved a hand in front of his face, "Earth to Prongs, James have you upgraded to full on hallucinations?"  
  
James snapped out of his day dreamed, muttering pointlessly.  
  
"What?! Oh yeah, yeah, what Sirius said" he said distractedly and going back to where he was staring.  
  
Remus sighed, there was no hope of catching his attention once he had started, he knew exactly what, or rather, who his friend was staring at and as he followed James' gaze his eyes fell on a laughing chestnut haired Lily Evans.  
  
"I wonder how I can get her Moony" he said, not once breaking his gaze.  
  
"Well I suggest you do soon, otherwise your going to go completely off your rocker trying to" he said standing up, "And I would also strongly suggest that you ask her without persuading, bribing, or threatening" he said pointedly.  
  
James finally broke his gaze and looked up at his friend.  
  
"I can't help persuading, it comes naturally with my looks and charm" he said smiling broadly.  
  
Remus sighed again, James would always be James.  
  
~*~  
  
The blasting winds of winter started to approach as October arrived and the first quidditch match of the season drew even closer. To the whole schools annoyance the marauders had gotten back into full swing of their weekly pranks, surprisingly all different and one hundred percent original from last year. However, James had become once more the most annoying to the Gryffindor team, working them hard almost every night a week and for extra time on weekends. It surprised everyone how he still managed to keep top marks on homework AND play pranks on the Hufflepuffs as before-match ego builders.  
  
Finally the day of the quidditch match dawned and James woke early, so early that even Remus wasn't up yet.  
  
He dressed quickly, and headed down to an early breakfast, expecting the team to already be up, he was right, of course, the whole team all looked rather blotchy eyed and weary, though if it was possible, fully awake at the same time.  
  
He caught sight of most of the Hufflepuff team sitting at their table, all with worried looks on their faces he happily observed.  
  
He walked over and sat next to Andromeda on the end.  
  
Most of his team were either swishing their cereal with their spoons while staring into space or simply staring at an empty plate.  
  
"If you're not going to eat that, I will" James said to her as she played around with her corn flakes.  
  
Andromeda jumped, she hadn't noticed him arrive or sit next to her.  
  
"Er.yeah, whatever". She pushed the bowl to the side.  
  
"You really should eat though, keep your strength up, don't want our new keeper passing out in the middle of the game" James said grinning.  
  
She gave him a nervous smile and decided to go for something solid, hoping she could keep it down, she reached for a plain piece of toast.  
  
"Don't worry Hufflepuff are easy, they're just a warm up" James said, and then he added reassuringly "Aren't they guys?"  
  
Everyone at the table jumped as he raised his voice an octave higher to speak to them.  
  
They all mumbled their agreement and then went back to day dreaming.  
  
James sighed. "That's it! You all need to wake up! Get your brooms and I'll meet you on the field in fifteen minutes for a warm up"  
  
They all groaned but obliged to their Captains order, thinking it really was no use just staring at their breakfast all morning.  
  
James walked onto the quidditch pitch. It was a nice crisp morning, cool air; it was going to be a sunny day, perfect to play quidditch. He then tested the ground, a little soggy but it would dry soon enough.  
  
He watched as his team filed out of the change rooms dressed in their quidditch robes of scarlet and gold, they looked awake, and their faces held determination.  
  
James gave the instructions to go through all of their usual routines, and they all mounted their brooms and flew up into the morning sun.  
  
He suddenly felt very lively, he loved early morning quidditch, it was the only way to get him out of bed early. He soared through the air, his keen eyes searching for the snitch whilst also keeping an eye on his teams' progress.  
  
They kept practicing for a while until the long wave of students started to file into the stands. James signaled his team onto the ground and they went back into the change rooms for his pre-match prep talk.  
  
"So James, which one shall it be?" Mandy asked, "The, 'Ok, we need a good score for this game', or the 'This one matters guys, take it easy, but concentrate' or maybe if you're feeling lucky the whole 'These guys are cinch, but we need to keep focused'"  
  
James just smirked at her.  
  
"No Mandy today will be the whole, 'I know we can win this and if you don't then I'll have all of your behinds!'"  
  
"Ah! Forgot about that one!"  
  
"Yes well, I mean what I say, Hufflepuff are a pushover but we need to start the season with a good score so when we play Ravenclaw they will probably be level with us as well"  
  
They all nodded.  
  
"We've won this cup five years in a row now, we can definitely win it again!" and with that he stood up and walked over to the change rooms doors.  
  
As they all followed suit Jacky lent over to Andromeda and whispered in her ear.  
  
"Wait until it's against Slytherin, you should hear that prep talk, always cracks me up!"  
  
"I heard that!" James yelled over his shoulder.  
  
"Oh and by the way, Sirius is commentating so just ignore him Annie, believe me, it's not worth chucking up a stink, McGonagall will do that for you, just concentrate on the game" Mandy told her.  
  
They mounted their brooms and flew out one by one onto the field as the crowd cheered.  
  
"And here's the Gryffindor team! Five time winners of the inter house cup championships, their Captain and Seeker, James Potter, chasers Jacqueline Spenetty, Amanda Kensington and Warren Broadback, their two beaters, Ian Douglas and Marcus Wedson, and their new keeper Andromeda Black, yes Ladies and Gentlemen, she gets her good looks from me!" Sirius' voice boomed across the stands.  
  
"And the Hufflepuff team also joins the field, Their Catpain Amos Diggory, his fellow beater Thomas Groden, their three chasers, Peter Langly, Frank Curtis and Jonathon Taylor, their keeper Stephanie McGowrie and Seeker Jody Nailin"  
  
Both teams landed in the middle of the field and Madam Hooch signaled for the captains to shake hands.  
  
"The two Captains James Potter and Amos Diggory shake hands, the teams get ready, the quaffle is released and the game begins!"  
  
A loud whistle blew throughout the stadium and the stands erupted into cheers as the game began.  
  
"Jacky Spennetty of Gryffindor takes first possession of the quaffle, brilliant chaser, has been on the team since her second year-a beautiful pass to her fellow chaser, Warren Broadback, James Potter picked him out just last year- Broadback passes to Mandy Kensington, gorgeous girl, think I went out with her once.or maybe twice-" "Black the game!" Professor McGonagalls voice could be heard screeching near the microphone. "Yes Professor, keep your hat on! Kensington is speeding towards the goal, there's no stopping this girl- she then throws a quick pass to Broadback- Broadback back to Spennetty- Spennety dodges a bludger hit by Hufflepuff beater, Thomas Groden and yes! The first goal of the game goes to Gryffindor!" Sirius boomed past the stands and the Gryffindors screamed loudly.  
  
James flew above the quidditch field searching widely for the snitch, but to no prevail could he find it, he looked once more at the Hufflepuff seeker, Jody Nailin, who was currently watching the three Hufflepuff chasers flying towards the Gryffindor goals with the quaffle.  
  
"And Hufflepuff chaser, Peter Langly is in possession of the quaffle- Gryffindor beaters, Ian Douglas and Marcus Wedson both hit the bludgers in his direction and- OWE! That must have hurt, two bludgers to the gut- but that won't let Hufflepuff down- Frank Curtis catches the quaffle and begins the trail towards Gryffindor goals.  
  
James took his eyes from the air for a moment to watch as Curtis took to throw the quaffle. Andromeda swerved around the goals, mimicking Curtis' every move with agile speed. Curtis tried to swerve quickly to get her off course but she was too quick for him and watched him like a hawk.  
  
"And Curtis tries to swerve the new Gryffindor keeper, Andromeda Black but she watches his every move ladies and gentlemen and oh! Curtis passes quickly to Langly- Langly goes to score but no- Andromeda Black saves the quaffle, most spectacular save I've ever seen!"  
  
The Gryffindors whistled and cheered as hard as ever as Andromeda threw the quaffle back to Jacky, beaming radiantly.  
  
James watched from his position above the game amazedly, Andromeda had definitely shown her stuff, but he knew that they needed to get at least fifty points before he could catch the snitch.  
  
The game went on and so did the loud cheers from the crowd of students below, and, to James' amusement, Sirius' non-stop babble of commentating.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR SCORE AGAIN! The points stand at sixty to Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, well lets just say Hufflepuff aren't blossoming today"  
  
There were various infuriated shouts from the Hufflepuff stands that just made Sirius laugh even more.  
  
"Ok, ok I was only joking! Now back to the game"  
  
James was circling the Gryffindor goals, talking to Andromeda when he saw it. A golden ball was fluttering down near the Hufflepuff beater. James quickly searched the pitch until he saw the Hufflepuff seeker, who was still searching blankly above her.  
  
James did some quick tactics and inconspicuously flew down near to where the snitch was fluttering whilst all the time keeping his eyes on the opponent seeker.  
  
He waited as long as he could to see if Gryffindor would score another goal before he caught it and to his luck, Jacky was only seconds away from doing so.  
  
James then speeded off towards the Hufflepuff beater who looked simply petrified, Sirius booming commentary filled his ears as he followed the snitch, ever getting closer.  
  
"And James Potter has found the snitch! Look at the man go! Hufflepuff seeker, Jody Nailin is close at his heals"  
  
Jacky scored the goal as the Hufflepuff keeper took her eyes off of the quaffle to look up at the two seekers.  
  
"And Spinnetty has just scored yet another goal for Gryffindor! If Potter gets the snitch there will be no stopping the Gryffindor team!"  
  
The stands were silent as everyone watched the two seekers in baited breath, but the Gryffindor team kept it active below, willing to get as many points as possible, knowing that if they didn't James was sure to whip their asses.  
  
James accelerated his broom, willing it to go faster and as Nailin dropped behind him he focused all of his attention on the snitch. He reached out his hand and with certain ease he grasped the golden winged ball between his fingers.  
  
"AND GRYFFINDOR SEEKER JAMES POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! I HOPE YOU WERE WATCHING LILY!" Sirius yelled over the screams of the Gryffindors.  
  
"SIRIUS BLACK!"  
  
"Professor, honestly, I'm just kidding around!" Sirius said laughing.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR WIN 220 PIONTS TO ZERO!"  
  
Down below Amos Diggory was fuming and as Jody Nailin landed down onto the pitch in defeat he strode up to her and started letting his steam off as he yelled at her ferociously.  
  
"And Captain Amos Diggory of the Hufflepuff team isn't looking too happy, chucking a right old tantrum if you ask me- now hey!" Sirius exclaimed as he heard some of the foul language that he was throwing at the now crying Jody.  
  
"Black give me that now!" McGonagall said snatching at the microphone but Sirius danced out of her reach, happily taking the chance to tell Diggory just what he thought of him.  
  
"Diggory you good for nothing git! You don't talk to her like that you little prick!" Sirius yelled for the whole audience to hear, most of them who were yelling in agreement, and some of the Hufflepuffs were yelling in protest.  
  
Ian and Marcus were still flying above with their bats, and then, to the audiences delight, they both hit the two bludges straight towards Diggory who was not at all disturbed by the crowds percussive yelling's at him. They missed the Hufflepuff captain by inches and finally made him shut up and stomp off the pitch.  
  
"Now that's much better!" Sirius exclaimed, but McGonagall had finally managed to grab the microphone off of him.  
  
"Right then everyone, there's nothing else to see here, all back up to the castle for dinner!" The Professor then gave the microphone unwillingly back to Sirius who beamed at her radiantly.  
  
"Detention, tomorrow night at eight, my office"  
  
Sirius smile suddenly turned into a frown.  
  
"What did I do?"  
  
"I hate that smile"  
  
~*~  
  
Lily, Mira and a very happy Andromeda were all walking back up to the castle after the quidditch match in mid-afternoon. As they approached the entrance hall they met with a large group of Slytherin girls.  
  
"I smell trouble" Miria muttered in both of their ears.  
  
"Oh look, it's Black, Pending and Evans" a blond haired girl called to the others.  
  
"The three stooges"  
  
"What a very touching name" Miria said spitefully.  
  
"We thought you needed a pet name, since you shamelessly spend all of your time with this mudblood trash" the blond known as Kylie said, pointing her well polished finger at Lily.  
  
Lily's blood boiled, she hated it when people called her a mudblood and her friends hated it just as much, Andromeda had heard it in her family too many times and Miria, being half and half sometimes got called it as well.  
  
"At least we stick together, all of you would fly the minute one gets a bad reputation" Andromeda said icily.  
  
"You could have been one of us Black, you could have enjoyed time with us, but no, you went with your pitiful cousin, betrayed your family, or should I say your family disowned you"  
  
"I want nothing to do with my family and I'd rather become friends with a dementor then with you lot"  
  
"You're just as bad as them! You don't deserve to be pure blood!" she screeched.  
  
"If this is what pure blood means then I'd take being half or muggle born any day"  
  
"Stupid cow" Kylie hissed.  
  
"She's half the woman you'll ever be!" Lily said angrily.  
  
"Shut up you filthy mudblood, you don't deserve to walk this planet!"  
  
"If you're trying to break me down you never will" Lily said through gritted teeth, "I'm not like the other poor girls you pick on, I won't cry every time you call me that filthy insult and I'll never stoop as low as you"  
  
The blond haired girl was just about to open her mouth for a retort when professor McGonagall walked in through the large double doors, coming back from the quidditch pitch.  
  
"What's going on here?" she asked sternly.  
  
"Nothing" the blond hissed, turning on her heel and walking rigidly into the hall, her group following her.  
  
"Well hurry up girls" the Professor said looking at Mira, Lily and Andromeda's faces, all overtaken with a look of the deepest loathing.  
  
Lily was used to the common insults she was forced to hold from the Slytherin girls, she always fought back and swore to herself that she would never let them hurt her but little did she know that she would been heading for the very breakdown she swore she would never have very soon. . .  
  
~*~  
  
Da dum! The 9th chapter is finished! I hope you liked it! I don't know how my quidditch went but I hope it was like the matches in the books. I don't know how long it will be until the next chapter but I have my yearly exams for school soon so I'll be studying hard *cough*. Anyways PLEASE review.I'll give you a cookie! Thanx!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams 


	10. A Change in the Wind

Hey everyone! Sorry It's taken me so long to update but I just finished school so yay! I'll have heaps more time now and I'm also going to be working on another fanfic as well. Woo hoo! Everyone celebrate, I've finally gotten up to double digits in chapters! Now I shall supply virtual chocolate cakes for everyone who reviews and also a party hat!  
  
Warning: This chapter contains high amounts of fluff that might just leave you up to your ears in cotton candy! Lol! Ok, so it's not that bad! Oh and everyone looking for James/Lily stuff in this fic, I hope this is good!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Chapter ten: A change in the wind.  
  
James skimmed the many shelves of the Library, looking for something half decent to read. He never told his friends that he liked to come to the Library often, not even Sirius. He knew they would mock him, Sirius would say he was morphing into Remus, Remus would remind him of the many times James, himself had mocked him for reading so much and Peter would probably just laugh at him and end up getting knocked out by Sirius.  
  
James smiled at this thought. He knew his friend would do anything for him, just like he did for Sirius.  
  
He picked up a book from a high shelf and sat down in one of the wooden chairs in the far corner of the Library, where he couldn't be disturbed, but as he opened the leather bound book he heard a sobbing sound coming from behind the nearest bookshelf. He ignored it at first, thinking he was hearing things. Who would be in the castle on a nice sunny weekend like this? He thought to himself, but then a small voice in the back of his head told him that he was doing exactly that.  
  
James then heard the sound again and he sat the book down quietly on the small table next to him. He then walked softly over to the bookshelf and peeked through a gap between the books.  
  
There slumped against the wall, her head covered by her hands was Lily Evans, her dark chestnut hair falling about her knees as her head drooped to her chest.  
  
James was utterly shocked, what was Lily doing here? He knew he had to get away before she saw him, here, in the Library and in his rush he accidentally knocked a book off the shelf.  
  
Lily heard the noise as the book hit the floor, she jumped and her head sprang upward, looking for the cause of the sudden disturbance.  
  
As James looked nervously between the shelves once more he saw Lily's tear streaked face and puffy red eyes, he'd never seen Lily like this before and it shocked him even more, Lily. . .had been crying?!  
  
He stood there, dumbfounded; he didn't know what to do, should he just leave her alone? That was his first impulse, but somehow another part of him was telling him to go to her, comfort her.  
  
Soon enough his conscience became the better of him and he emerged around the bookshelves.  
  
Lily's head lifted slightly off of her knees as she heard the soft padding of shoes on the dusty carpet. She heard the footsteps cease a couple of feet in front of her.  
  
"Go away" she said miserably, still not lifting her head.  
  
"Lily are you ok?" James asked in what he meant to sound like a comforting tone but came out gruffly.  
  
Lily knew that voice from anywhere; she had grown up with it forever in her ears.  
  
"Piss off Potter!" she said infuriated that he was seeing her like this. She tried to hide her face as much as she could, determined to keep him from seeing that she had been crying.  
  
James was a little put out by this command, though he didn't know why, it had never bothered him before when she had said many worse things than this to him, though not one of those times could he ever remember that he had any good intentions, but this time was different.  
  
"Lily what's wrong?" James tried again.  
  
"I told you, go away" she said again, but this time her voice was very shaky.  
  
"It's alright; I'm not going to tell anyone"  
  
"You wouldn't understand"  
  
Tears were streaming down her face once more and James saw a tiny drop hit the floor. He walked over to where she was huddled against the wall and slumped down next to her. He then lowered his hand uncertainly onto her shoulder and looked at her, concern written all over his face.  
  
Lily finally gathered up the courage to look at him, she let go of her pride and stopped trying to cover her tears, they rolled steadily down her cheeks and as James looked into her sad eyes a wave of guilt swept over him and he suddenly felt ashamed of all the cruel and spiteful things he had ever said to her over the years.  
  
Lily tried to pull herself together but she just couldn't stop herself from crying. All the years of doubt came crushing down on her in one painful blow and she suddenly found herself sobbing uncontrollably into James' chest.  
  
After James had overcome his shock he wrapped his arms around her and stroked her hair soothingly, he wasn't one that was very used to comforting others, but somehow it came to him quickly with Lily and he relaxed.  
  
She stayed there for a while, trying to collect herself and sort out her mingled feelings. When she slowly pulled away from him she looked into his eyes, they were full of pity and had a slight trace of concern in them, she felt, for the first time that she could trust James Potter and suddenly saw him in a whole new light.  
  
"What's wrong Lily? You can tell me"  
  
Lily was touched by the concern in his voice and she felt she needed to let her feelings out, she forgot about the many times he had, over the years teased her and taunted her and annoyed her, this was a different James sitting before her now.  
  
"I-I'm just so sick of it" she started, choking slightly on her words.  
  
"I'm sick of the bullying, the bitching, the cruelty, I've fought against it for so many years now but it really does hurt. I've seen so many others break because of it and now here I am, I swore I would never let those Slytherin cows get to me but now they have, and I feel even worse, I'm supposed to be the strong one who looks after the other muggleborns and stands up for them and now I'm breaking too, I'm letting them get to me"  
  
James listened intently, he had had no idea what Lily had been going through over the years and it was saddening to see her face of steel shattered.  
  
"And it's not just them, I heard some girls, seventh years, saying that I didn't deserve to be prefect, that Dumbledore just made me one because he felt sorry for me and I can't help but think I am a bad prefect, I mean, I didn't even remember to lead the first years at the beginning of year feast"  
  
"Lily those girls just have sour grapes, you deserved that badge more then anyone else in the year"  
  
There was silence for a minute until Lily said sadly, "I'm sorry, this must seem really stupid to you, crying over people saying things to me, embarrassing myself" she said looking down at her hands.  
  
"Lily, everyone has emotion, you need to let it out once in a while, you can't be the heroine all the time"  
  
Lily smiled weakly at him.  
  
"Thanks" she whispered.  
  
Lily then stood up, wiping the tears vigorously from her eyes.  
  
"Well I had better go; Miria and Annie will be looking for me"  
  
There was a moment of uncomfortable silence while the two just looked at each other, something didn't feel right, James needed to break the abnormality of all that had just happened.  
  
"Alright Evans, but are you sure it's not just that time of the month again?" he asked, lapsing back into his usual reference to her and arrogant tone.  
  
"NO!" she snapped, looking deadly, but as he watched her sweep from the cramped section he saw a small smile creep upon her features.  
  
~*~  
  
Lily walked into the great hall for breakfast the next day with a springing step in her stride, she was both cheerful and refreshed, feeling oddly more confident after her talk with James, even if it was abnormal and went against all of her morals she had set for herself. She hadn't told anyone about their talk, she had, of course been thoroughly upset and hadn't know what she was doing, she meant nothing by it and hoped that James hadn't told anyone either. It was a one off thing, something that she had by far not intended on doing, but she was grateful for it and saw James rather differently now, but he would always still be the same Potter to her. . . right?  
  
Her mind kept wandering into that uncomfortable and frightful place in her thoughts that was theologizing what would happen if he had told someone, it would be the talk of the school, and she didn't think she'd be able to bare it. This one simple talk could end up being her worst nightmare. She shuddered at the thought.  
  
Thoughts kept whirling around in her head, 'be nice to him or act as normal?' 'Well Evans, there's only one thing to do' she said to herself as she walked casually into the great hall 'this time you'll have to go with the flow'.  
  
As she approached the Gryffindor table she was annoyed to find that her friends had taken seats opposite the marauders. She was very much tempted to go and sit with some of her other fellow sixth year friends but knew that it would look even stranger. 'Plus', she thought to herself as she walked towards them, 'you aren't going to let Potter mess up your life in any way are you now?'  
  
She promptly arrived at her friend's side and sat down next to Andromeda.  
  
James, who was sitting next to Sirius across from them said simply, smiling while he buttered his toast, "Morning Evans"  
  
The table went silent, waiting for Lily's infuriated reply when suddenly. . .  
  
"Morning" Lily replied off handedly, looking as if this was nothing out of the ordinary.  
  
Sirius and Andromeda stared at them, amazed, Miria gaped openly, Remus, who had just taken a large gulp of orange juice, spluttered it everywhere in surprise and even Peter seemed to hold a perplexed expression. However, Lily and James just kept on eating, totally oblivious of those around them who were stunned into silence.  
  
Sirius finally piped up.  
  
"Did you-he just-you didn't- DID I MISS SOMETHING?!!!"  
  
"For god's sake Black put together a coherent sentence!" Lily said, clearly annoyed.  
  
"You were civil! For the first time in. . .no for the first time! Where is Evans and what did you do to her?" Sirius stated jumping up behind his chair, battle stance and wand at the ready, pointing it straight between Lily's eyes.  
  
"You're a spy aren't you? You were told every memory most likely but what they didn't inform you is how much you and James hate each other. So what's his middle name huh? What is James's parent's name? Well, well, well, I bet you can't answer that!" Sirius claimed triumphantly.  
  
Even though Lily was burning hot with embarrassment on the inside, there was absolutely no trace of it showing on the outside and her expression was still kept calm.  
  
The whole hall had their eyes on the crazed marauder, waiting for Lily to reply.  
  
"Dane, Michael and Elizabeth" Lily replied calmly, by now used to such an audience whenever Sirius Black was around.  
  
Sirius turned an incredulous stare at James. "Your middle name is Dane?" He asked with a snort.  
  
James glared at him as if daring him to say another word. "Yes, it was my grandfathers' name."  
  
"Evans, how on earth did you know James' middle name let alone his parent's names?" Sirius asked in astonishment.  
  
"I got an apology letter from Mrs. Potter in second year. She continued to blow up at him in the letter, as if it were a howler or something." Lily smirked playfully, "Really Potter I never knew you had a blue teddy named Fred when you were younger, and why on earth did you turn him pink?"  
  
James went a pasty white, "Oh Merlin, she didn't?"  
  
Lily smiled innocently, "I hear Freddy had a bad day that day."  
  
"Why on earth did you get an apology from James' mum?" Andromeda asked, clearly amused at his predicament.  
  
"Oh, well James thought it would be funny if he hit me with a tell all potion, what you do is you smash it at their feet and a vapor or smoke, whichever you prefer to call it, swims up around you, when you inhale it obviously, the person is compelled to 'tell all' as such, but what he didn't know was that I'm allergic to wormwood, so I ended up in the hospital wing for two weeks," Lily seemed quite thoughtful for a moment, "James where did you come off being so arrogant when your mother is so lovely?"  
  
"It isn't arrogance, self confidence would be more appropriate, and I believe I actually get that from my mother Evans," he retorted, annoyed that he had allowed Lily to get the upper hand.  
  
"No, what you have is arrogance, your mother doesn't boast, unlike you" Lily said smugly, "And may I add, her head isn't as big"  
  
"How do you know how big it is?" Peter asked.  
  
"She's been fitting me with robes at Madam Malkim's ever since I started at Hogwarts"  
  
"Oh is she that lovely woman with curly brown hair and bright robes?" Andromeda asked.  
  
"They're not bright! They're dazzling, they suit her personality" James said protectively.  
  
"Alright Potter, Jeez settle down," Lily claimed, putting her hands up in submission, "We weren't insulting her or anything."  
  
A sniveling voice sounded at James right, "Oh how touching Potty is all protective of his mother,"  
  
James and Sirius whirled around as one and swiftly drew their wands before Severus even had time to register a look of shock and both boys cursed him into oblivion, with the best (and worst) spells they knew.  
  
Snape hit the Slytherin table with a loud CRASH! And food went flying everywhere as he started to giggle uncontrollably.  
  
"POTTER AND BLACK!!" yelled Lily and Professor McGonagall in unison.  
  
The two boys sneered at Snape and then turned around to look up at the head table.  
  
"What in Merlin's beard do you think you're doing?!" the Professor screeched.  
  
All of the Slytherins sneered at the two boys as the Professor stared at them with her steely glare.  
  
Lily promptly took out her wand and took the giggling charm off Snape, who, as soon as it had lifted, whipped out his wand, hoping to get revenge.  
  
"Expelliarmus!" Remus shouted and Snape's wand flew out of his hand and into Remus'.  
  
"Thank you Mr. Lupin" Professor McGonagall said curtly, turning only a moment to look at Remus.  
  
The bell rang and all of the silent students didn't move a muscle as they stared at the sudden occurrence until the rest of the staff started ushering them out of the hall.  
  
James and Sirius turned hopefully towards the great oak doors that lead to the grounds outside but professor McGonagall never gave in that easily.  
  
"Don't even think about it boys! Up hear, now! Black, Potter, Snape and may I please request your presence as well Miss. Evans and Mr. Lupin"  
  
All five of them trudged up to the head table towards the fuming Professor, Snape staring daggers into James' back.  
  
"Miss. Evans would you care to recount the event" Professor McGonagall demanded more then asked.  
  
"We were talking about Potter's mother Professor, and Snape made a rather crude remark as he walked past" Lily explained.  
  
The Professor stared at the two boys with unblinking eyes.  
  
"Do you honestly think this a mature way to act?" she asked them both.  
  
"Well no Professor, but when have we ever acted-" Sirius was cut off mid sentence by Remus.  
  
"They were provoked Professor"  
  
"I understand that Mr. Lupin but the point is that they behaved immaturely, and by no account have they shown any justice towards their house in the act, I must say that I am thoroughly disappointed in you both and that I shall have to take 20 points from Gryffindor each" she said sternly.  
  
Snape sneered at them both.  
  
"Don't think you have weaseled your way out of this Mr. Snape, I assure you, there will be punishment enough heading your way very soon, in the mean time, hold your tongue! Forty points shall be taken from Slytherin for your provocation and childish behavior"  
  
"Now get back to your classes before I decide to deduct any more points" she said severely.  
  
"Professor, my wand" Snape gestured to his wand which Remus was still handling.  
  
The professor nodded curtly and Remus handed the wand back over to Snape and all five of them turned to walk back and gather their bags but Professor McGonagall signaled for Lily and Remus to stay.  
  
"I thank you both for your assistance in this matter, but Mr. Lupin, I hope you do not always feel compelled to get your two friends out of trouble, sometimes it would do them good to get a swift knock around the head. Just remember that, as a prefect there is no favouritism" Professor McGonagall said and promptly rose from her chair.  
  
"Now if you would excuse me, I am already late for a class, and make sure you excuse yourselves and explain to your Professors where you have been"  
  
Remus and Lily both nodded and then walked down towards their bags at the empty Gryffindor table where James and Sirius were waiting for them.  
  
"Thanks, Rem, sometimes my tongue gets the better of me" Sirius said, slapping Remus on the back.  
  
Lily snorted and muttered something that sounded strangely like, "yeah, sometimes" and then started to walk ahead of them.  
  
"Hey Evans wait up!" James called after her.  
  
"No thank you, I'm fine the way I am" she said not turning to look at him.  
  
"Ok then but I was just about to tell my two loyal friends here about our little experience yesterday afternoon" he said slyly.  
  
Lily stopped dead in her tracks and Sirius and Remus looked at James with perplexed expressions, and then remembered their act at breakfast.  
  
Lily didn't turn around; she was filled with paralyzing dread and fear.  
  
"That little snog of ours went quite well, don't you think? Nice and cozy in that broom cupboard hey?"  
  
Lily couldn't help but sigh in relief; he had said things like this a hundred times over and even if it did happen (which it never would) no one would ever believe him. Lily was so relieved that she quickly formed an act.  
  
"Yes Potter, magnificent, I must say your boyish good looks are very seductive" she said, putting on one of those girlish smiles that she knew made him go weak at the knees.  
  
Remus and Sirius looked at her, horrified. Remus continually pinching himself on the arm to make sure he wasn't dreaming.  
  
She walked slowly up to him, moving closer all the time until she came an inch from his lips when-  
  
WHAM!  
  
She slapped him square across the cheek.  
  
"NEVER, EVER, SAY THAT AGAIN YOU SELF-CENTERED, EGOTISTICAL, ARROGANT ASS!" she screeched at the top of her lungs and then stormed out of the hall to leave James rubbing his red cheek in shock and the two marauders roaring with laughter.  
  
However, this rather peculiar display did not, in any way, change James' feelings towards Lily Evans, if anything, they increased. Cool, calm and collected James went about that day in a daze, rubbing the red patch on his cheek and not even bothering to curse those who ran into him in the halls. Sirius had to punch him lightly on the arm when Professor Sprout asked him a question to get him to awaken out of his daydream.  
  
Things had turned differently for Lily, however. Andromeda and Miria had much of the same reactions as Sirius and Remus when she told them why she was practically bubbling with hot, spewing fury as she walked in the door to the classroom and it only made them laugh even more when James walked in, with is dazed expression and slightly bruised, red cheek (damn that girl hits hard!).  
  
But they both didn't know the real reason why Lily was so angry, they just thought it was for the usual reason, that she hated James and always had. They didn't bother to make the connection between breakfast and her different action of outburst. Lily was actually as much angry with James as she was with herself. The truth was that James actually was somewhat seductive, and for a split moment, she felt she actually wanted to kiss him and loose herself in those pools of hazel eyes. She was enraged with herself, how could she let him do that to her? Of course, he had always been a good-looking boy, but she knew his personality. . .or did she? She shook her head furiously, smashing the little voice in her head and cursing under her breath. Why did James Potter have to make her life so damn complicated?  
  
"James for god's sake! Snap out of it! You're like a love sick puppy!" Sirius said, clicking his fingers in front of James' face.  
  
James instantly snapped out of his daydream and looked at his friend in irritation.  
  
"What! I'm fine!" he said reaching for a beef paddy.  
  
"You've been off in a daze all day man! You've gone all lovey-dovey on us!"  
  
"You know that's the closest I've ever been to kissing her" he said, once again, slipping off into a trance.  
  
"Yeah, and probably the closest you'll ever get!" Peter said as he reached for the beef paddy on James' plate as all the others cleared.  
  
James threw him a death stare but didn't say anything further.  
  
~*~  
  
Well now that all the lovey-dovey sappy stuff is over (for a while hehehe!) onto the serious stuff! Next chapter I'll have Christmas I think! Yes that will be good! I think I'll do that! Oh VERY IMPORTANT! I have a new story up, it's called Thunder and it's one about Tonks and Charlie, but their just friends, it's when the first met so, feel free to check it out! Also, I REALLY need to know how to do bold and italics on ff, cos it's extremely hard without it, so if you know how, do tell! Well thank you to all my reviewers, sorry I can't reply to everyone. I'd just like to say thanks to Bidett da Pigion Stalker, Agloechen, and my three new reviewers, Emily, Vixie Pixy and Flaming Flower (to answer your question about how long this fic is going to be, it depends really, I might just do to the end of 6th year on this one, then do a sequel for their 7th year. It depends on what I feel like writing really! But I'm set on getting their 6th year finished at least!) Thanks everyone! Hope to have the next chapter up soon! ~.^  
  
~*~ Mystical Dreams 


	11. One! Two! Three! ATTACK!

Hi everyone! I know I haven't updated as frequently as I usually do but I have two fanfics going at the moment and they're both in different era's so it's been really difficult to get into that certain mood to write. School's started back up again, and let's just say that maths this year isn't going too crash hot for me, so I'll try my hardest to update ASAP. This is a longer chapter and it's a funner one to. Well hope you like it!!  
  
Disclaimer: There is information from the book 'Quidditch Throughout the Ages' by Kennilworthy Whisp (J.K. Rowling) contained in this chapter of the fanfic. Whatever information stated in the book the credit goes completely to J.K Rowling. There is also a quote from Goblet of Fire in here as well, which belongs to J.K.  
  
Also, there is mention of measurement in here as well, e.g. inch, hand span, that sort of thing. And I'd just like to point out that its Australian measurement so it'll be in metres and centimeters. All measurements are different in different countries but I hope you'll get the main gist of it anyways, just thought I'd point it out to save confusion.  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Chapter 11: One! Two! Three! Attack!!  
  
The snow fell thickly across Hogwarts grounds as the Gryffindors all lazed about their warmly lit common room discussing Christmas vacation and house points (which had fell considerably since the two well-known sixth years had had a little 'incident' with the oddball Slytherin lovingly known as 'Snivellus') The common room was thick with chatter and all in all, the Christmas spirit was spreading fast around the castle.  
  
"So Sirius, you going to stay for Christmas?" James asked as he moved his castle towards a quivering pawn of Remus'.  
  
"Yeah, I wanted to spend Christmas with Annie this year, since it's her first time here, if it's all right with your parents and all" he replied from the squishing armchair close to the fire.  
  
"Mmm" he said, pressing his lips together in concentration, "I think I'll stay too, Christmas just 'aint the same without anyone to through snowballs at"  
  
"Awe, Prongs, I'm touched" Sirius said, holding his hand to his heart in mock sensitivity.  
  
"You won't when that snowball fight begins; I've been practicing my shot" he said with an evil grin.  
  
"You're no match for me Potter! I'm King of snowball fights!"  
  
This was partly true, snowball fights were Sirius' spatiality, when playing, no one ever wanted to be on the opposite team out of fear of heading a concussion. . .from snow. . .  
  
"Well Moony, you going to stay?"  
  
"Yep! Full Moon's two days before Christmas, it's easier to transform here then at home" he said with a grateful grin to his friends.  
  
"Great! We can have some pre-Christmas fun then!" Sirius said happily.  
  
"How 'bout you Wormtail?" he then asked.  
  
"Can't" he said regretfully, "My Grandmothers coming all the way from Australia to see us, we're having a big family reunion"  
  
"Ahh, lovely, pinching cheeks and sloppy kisses, family reunions are always so fun!" James said sarcastically.  
  
"Consider yourself lucky mate" Sirius said darkly, "In my case it's more like you can run, but you can't hide. Everyone wants to whisper about the disgrace of the family and tell you off for 'dishonouring the family name'" he said in something that sounded much like his mother's scornful voice.  
  
"Well there's no need for that anymore my friend! In April you shall be of age and free to do whatever you want!" James declared triumphantly as he moved his Queen towards Remus' defeated looking King.  
  
=*=  
  
The same topic of discussion was taking place among the group of 6th year girls as they stood watching Andromeda sign her name underneath Sirius' on the small clip board.  
  
Lily skimmed up the column of names. Great. Potter was staying. She was torn between two worlds: If she stayed she'd have to put up with Potter, if she went home, she'd have to put up with Petunia. It seemed as if she could never win! Even though she had quickly pushed her thoughts to the certain 'occurrence' that had taken place in the great hall last month out of her head she still found James immensely annoying, which was actually somewhat of an upgrade for him. She used to think he was unbearable beyond doubt. Now she just thought he was an annoying prick. She had put her unreasonable pondering down to being over worked and rather stressed; she had been studying hard for her NEWTS ever since the beginning of the summer holidays following her fifth year after all. Yes, she decided, that was definitely it, over worked and not thinking straight, that's what had made her think that way about him. But she still couldn't get the image he had set for her that day in the library out of her head. It seemed that every time she thought she had James Potter worked out, he went and did something spontaneous. Maybe he wasn't as arrogant as she thought he was. . .  
  
Lily mentally slapped herself. She had been over this thousands of times before and had told herself at least a million times to forget about it, it was no use. She shook her head, 'whatever comes, comes' she told herself, 'you'll just have to go with the flow Evans'. After all, she was pretty good at thinking on her feet.  
  
Lily sighed. She finally decided that she would stay at Hogwarts since Miria and Andromeda were as well, at least she new they would make it fun, even if they did end up hanging around with Potter and his crew.  
  
She signed her name in her loopy cursive handwriting underneath Miria's and hoped for dear life that James wasn't in an annoying mood on Christmas day.  
  
=*=  
  
James woke up on Christmas day to Remus nudging his shoulder and whispering in his ear.  
  
"Presents!"  
  
James sat bolt upright, any signs of tiredness banished from his face as he stared down at the mound of presents at the end of his bed.  
  
"Good load this year!" he said as he sprung upon his gifts like a vulture.  
  
Remus returned to his own pile and started sifting through them.  
  
There was a loud snort from the bed next to James' and some sort of muttering. Remus and James looked at each other with mischievous glee. Without saying a word both boys approached their friends bed and drew back the curtains quietly.  
  
Remus took a cup from underneath Sirius' bed.  
  
"This should do" he muttered to himself, and quietly whispered a spell to turn it into a white feather. He then continued to lower the feather to Sirius' nose and moved it up and down his face.  
  
Sirius' nose scrunched up as if he had just smelt some disgusting odor and he rolled over muttering something.  
  
"Christmas" James said in a sing song voice close to his ear.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, Christmas, whatever" he said grumpily, trying to swat James away.  
  
Remus stood, counting backwards from ten on his fingers, once he had gotten to five Sirius had sat bolt upright, just like James.  
  
"CHRISTMAS!"  
  
A look of utter merriment spread across his face as he looked down at his presents and leaped towards them like an excited four year old child.  
  
Both of the boys went back to their own piles and soon the dormitory was filled with ripped Christmas rapping paper.  
  
"Hey awesome! Thanks Prongs!" Sirius said as he took out a large packet of assorted products from Zonko's.  
  
"I was getting low on dung bombs"  
  
"No prob Padfoot"  
  
Sirius had a smaller pile of presents then the others, considering he wasn't exactly in speaking terms with any of his current relatives (except for Andromeda and maybe Uncle Alphard), so naturally, he noticed his envelope first.  
  
"Oi look! McGonagall's sent her favourite student a present!"  
  
Remus' ears pricked up over the other side of the room.  
  
"Huh? I didn't get a-"  
  
"Not you! Me! And you say we're cocky!" Sirius said waving a hand towards James and himself.  
  
"For someone who's supposed to be modest you're very self-assured"  
  
Remus blushed at this statement, and then, not game to retort, buried himself amongst his presents again.  
  
"Hey! I got one too!" James exclaimed as he pulled out a similar envelope wedged between two brightly rapped gifts.  
  
They both tore the envelopes open and took out a red and green slip.  
  
"So what does it say?" Remus asked curiously.  
  
"Congratulations" James read aloud, "You are one of the first students in a century to have been issued a detention on Christmas. Merry Christmas! Professor M. McGonagall"  
  
Remus burst out laughing.  
  
"Favourite student hey, Padfoot?"  
  
Sirius tossed the slip underneath his bed, (where all un-useful objects were discarded)  
  
"Well at least we know we're not forgotten!" he said happily.  
  
"True" James said, "I wonder if we'll go down in history"  
  
"I think all the marauders will go down in history" Sirius said with a grin.  
  
"Yeah, I'm sure when we're all old and sprouting grey hairs we'll be sitting down telling James and Lilly's son all about the best powder puffed pastries in the kitchens" Remus said while he examined a talking paperweight his mother had sent him.  
  
James' pillow went zooming through the air and Remus toppled over the side of his bed as it brushed above his head and hit the opposite wall.  
  
Sirius started laughing as Remus peeked over the edge of his bed.  
  
"Fine then, we'll make the kid a daughter!"  
  
This made Sirius practically roar with laughter so that he also was in danger of falling off of the side of his bed.  
  
James went pink in the face and picked up a random piece of clothing that was lying on the ground to throw towards Sirius.  
  
"Speaking about Lily, do you think the chicks would be up yet?"  
  
"Why?" Remus asked, confused.  
  
Sirius' face cracked into a mischievous grin.  
  
"I wanted to give Andromeda her present in person"  
  
"Oh God! What'd you get her?" James asked with a pained expression, he knew all too well what some of his friends supposed 'presents' turned out like.  
  
"For me to know and you to find out!" Sirius said gleefully as he drew the curtains around his bed to get changed.  
  
The two other boys finished unwrapping their presents and started to get dressed as their friend took his leave down to the common room singing 'God rest Ye, Merry Hippogriffs' in a very off key tune.  
  
James and Remus followed Sirius' lead down to the common room, slightly nervous as to what was awaiting them. When they got there, however, they had to look around the room twice before they found their friend.  
  
Sirius was sitting next to the Gryffindor Christmas tree with a large red ribbon tied underneath his chin with a humungous bow sitting on top of his head, and he looked absolutely delighted about it.  
  
James gagged, appalled at his friends new feminine touch. Remus however, cracked up laughing.  
  
Sirius then broke out in song again, this time at the top of his lungs, obviously hoping to gain attention by others.  
  
"GOD BLESS YE, MERRY HIPPOGRIFFS, GOD BLESS YE MERRY SOUL!!"  
  
James and Remus covered their ears; it was the worst sound they had ever heard!  
  
"Make it stop!" James moaned.  
  
The two boys heard a shout from upstairs and uncovered there ears to see whose voice it was.  
  
"SIRIUS BLACK SHUTUP!!"  
  
They recognized the voice to belong to Andromeda.  
  
This, however, only achieved to increase the loudness of this booming voice.  
  
"FLY TO THE PUDDING! YE. . .THINGY! I DON'T KNOW THE REST!" he kept 'singing'.  
  
"SIRIUS SHUTUP!" came several voices at once.  
  
When Sirius' 'singing' didn't cease there came a swishing sound from the girls staircase and out zoomed a red hair brush.  
  
Sirius' eyes widened comically as the brush flew straight towards him.  
  
He leaped to one side, as the brush zoomed close to his right ear, missing it by millimeters.  
  
Sirius got back up, rubbing his head, but to his utter amazement, the brush rounded back on him.  
  
"JAMES HEELLLPPP!! THE BRUSH IS ATTACKING ME!!" he yelled as he ran hysterically away from the brush.  
  
After running around like a raving lunatic for a whole two minutes Sirius suddenly realized that, shock horror! He had a wand! He quickly whipped it out as he jumped over an armchair, his bow wobbling dangerously on his head as he held his wand as if he was in a western shoot out.  
  
"There 'aint enough room in this world for you and me brush! One of us will have to go!"  
  
By this point in time Remus and James were both clutching the door frame that lead to the boy's dormitories, gasping for breath as they laughed.  
  
"Incantartae!" Sirius yelled as he pointed his wand at the killer-brush. The brush smashed mid-flight and bits of red plastic went flying around the common room.  
  
Sirius took a bow, but stood up straight backed when he heard the sound of footsteps descending the stairs to the girl's dormitories.  
  
He ran over to the Christmas tree and took his respective spot, straightening his bow as he sat.  
  
"Oi! That was my brush!" Miria said as she emerged from the landing.  
  
"Yeah and it was trying to kill me!"  
  
"Yeah, well you were trying to kill us all with that. . .Noise!" she stated.  
  
Andromeda also came down the stairs and as she reached Miria's side she followed her friends' gaze over to where Sirius sat. She stared at him, blinking her long lashes before bursting out laughing.  
  
"Lily! Bring down the camera, this is priceless!" She yelled up the stairs.  
  
"Did you like my singing?" Sirius asked innocently.  
  
"I thought it was the sound of death" Andromeda replied bluntly.  
  
"Well Merry Christmas to you to!" Sirius said with mock hurt.  
  
Andromeda's face cracked into a grin, "Merry Christmas" she said warmly.  
  
Lily appeared behind Andromeda with an odd expression adorning her features.  
  
"Black there are others in the castle besides your-"  
  
Her eyes lay on Sirius' form beside the Christmas tree.  
  
"Self" she finished her cut off word.  
  
"Why the hell are you wearing a. . . ribbon?"  
  
"Yeah Padfoot, you should have told us you were going to be a cross- dresser; we would have joined in!" Remus said, obviously feeling in very good humour today.  
  
"I'm not a cross-dresser!" Sirius said indignantly. He turned his eyes towards Andromeda.  
  
"I told you I was going to get you the best present ever, didn't I?"  
  
Andromeda lifted and eyebrow and nodded.  
  
"Well what better present then me!" Sirius exclaimed grinning ear to ear.  
  
"Yeah, everything a person could ever hope for" Lily muttered sarcastically.  
  
Andromeda's face took on an evil smile.  
  
"Well then that means, if you're my present and all, then I can do with you" she paused for dramatic affect . . . "Whatever I want"  
  
Sirius' grin faulted for a moment, and then a dawning look of horror overcame his expression.  
  
"Awe mate, you've put your foot right in the shit this time" James said as he tried to suppress his laughter.  
  
"W-well, I hadn't exactly thought of it that way. . ."  
  
"Well I have!" Andromeda said happily, relishing the first time she had finally caught out her cousins so called 'fool proof' plans.  
  
"Now, my first request- wait no- order" she smiled evilly, "Is that I get to be on your team for sno-"  
  
"NO!" Sirius said in horror, "No you can't meddle with snowball fights! Prongs and Moony are always on my team! We're the awesome. . .threesome!"  
  
He looked at her with pleading eyes.  
  
"Come on Annie, it's Christmas, be merciful"  
  
"Oh fine!" she snapped, "Then Miria and Lily are-"  
  
"Oh no! You're not getting me into this!" Lily said putting her hands up.  
  
Miria turned to Lily and whispered in her ear, "Come on Lils, you'll be able to hit Potter as much as you want"  
  
A gleeful smile appeared across Lily's face, one which all three marauders didn't like the look of.  
  
"Ok, I'm in!"  
  
"Yeah, me too!" Miria said excitedly.  
  
"Good!" Andromeda said, smiling proudly at her friends.  
  
"Ok so three against three. That's fair don't you think?"  
  
"Fine with me" James affirmed as the others nodded their agreement.  
  
Sirius looked positively delighted and seeing this expression, Andromeda rounded on him.  
  
"And don't you worry, I have something else in mind for you. . ."  
  
Sirius' smile only widened as she said this.  
  
Andromeda gave him a surprised look and then the three girls crossed the common room to step through the portrait hole.  
  
"Padfoot, why the hell are you smiling?" Remus asked when the girls had left.  
  
"Moony, Moony, Moony, you always smile" he said as if talking to a small child, "It makes them wonder what you're thinking"  
  
Sirius winked jovially before jumping out of his seated position.  
  
James laughed lightly and Remus shook his head unbelievably at his spontaneous companion before all three clambered out of the portrait whole towards the wafting smells of Christmas breakfast.  
  
=*=  
  
"Alright boys, this is it"  
  
"The big one"  
  
"The one we've all been waiting for"  
  
James glared at his two friends.  
  
"Well James, when are you going to learn to stop quoting Daren O'Hare's before match prep talks?" Sirius asked irritably.  
  
"But it's good luck! He gave that prep talk the match that they first used the Hawkshead attacking formation to beat Puddlemere United!" James stated excitedly.  
  
"James! I go for Puddlemere United! Plus, the Kestrels only beat them once!" Remus stated as he balled up another snowball in his gloves and put it on top of their ever-growing pile.  
  
"Puddlemere United?! You just wait Lupin, the Arrows are gonna smash them in the world cup!" Sirius said, obviously feeling the need to back up his own team.  
  
"The Arrows?!" Came a call from across the field of snow. Andromeda stood up from behind her barrier of snow.  
  
"Man I can't wait to see them play the Wasps!" she said gleefully.  
  
"GO THE WASPS!!" Miria shouted punching the air with her fist.  
  
"You're talking about Quidditch over a snowball fight?!" they heard the irritable tone in Lily's voice drift across the field.  
  
"We talk about Quidditch during everything Evans!" Sirius yelled back.  
  
"Is there anything you ever talk about other then that?" She yelled back at him.  
  
"Well James talks about you an awful lot, but other then that-"  
  
James threw the snowball that he was forming at his friends head and Sirius started laughing and threw one back.  
  
"Oh what a good idea, kill yourselves and save us all the work!" Andromeda commented as she watched the two friends fight.  
  
Remus, sure he wasn't going to miss out on the fun, lunged himself at Sirius' back and clung onto him in hopes of making him fall. Sirius staggered around trying to hold Remus' weight as James continued to throw snowballs at him. He then bent over to reach for more ammo and landed face first into the snow with Remus still clinging to his robes.  
  
Andromeda clapped her gloved hands together, smiling as Remus promptly sat on top of Sirius' back.  
  
Sirius brought his head up, spitting out snow and spluttering as he threw his fellow marauder off; Moony surprisingly didn't weigh that much.  
  
"We gonna get this thing started now or what?" Lily yelled across the playing field.  
  
"Ok but there's one rule" Sirius said once he had ridden his mouth of snow.  
  
"What's that?" Miria asked curiously.  
  
"No wands allowed"  
  
"What?!" the three girls yelled in unison.  
  
Sirius just smiled. "What? Did you think you were going to get away with using magic to defeat us? Oh no Evans, I've seen you in charms and you won't be using any of those fancy spells that you know you're an expert at"  
  
Lily put on a pouted expression and folded her arms across her chest. She looked like a little girl who had just been denied to play with her dolls.  
  
"Plus, it lasts for longer when you do it the muggle way" he stated.  
  
"Alright then, lets get on with it so we can prove to these show offs which gender really is the dominant species" Andromeda said as she retreated back behind their snow fort.  
  
"One!" Sirius yelled.  
  
"Two!" James joined in.  
  
"Three!" Remus shouted.  
  
"ATTACK!!"  
  
The two teams ran out into the field that lay between both of their strongholds with snowballs clasped in their hands.  
  
Miria crouched in the girls' fort, throwing snowballs over the top and ducking behind the wall as others headed her way. Her two friends were frantically dodging snowballs from their three opponents as they swiftly scooped the snow from the ground to shape.  
  
Lily dodged a hit aimed at her by Remus and scooped up some more snow which she then aimed back at him, unfortunately he ducked just in time and the snowball flew past him and instead hit James square in the side of the head.  
  
Lily yelled in triumph as she jumped in the air and toppled over as another ball of snow hit her in the gut.  
  
James smirked at her and she quickly picked herself back up.  
  
Sirius and Annie were battling it out as they circled one another, slowly getting closer to each other, and as they stood a metre apart Sirius thrust his snowball right in Andromeda's face. He laughed gleefully and retreated back behind the fort.  
  
Miria and Andromeda soon switched places and Miria continued out to the battle field to take a shot at Remus and James as Sirius threw power hits with expert aim.  
  
James ducked, jumped and dodged snowballs with the amazing agility he had learnt from years of practice on the quidditch pitch but he lacked the strategy that Remus was skilled with, like Lily; he was an expert at thinking on his feet.  
  
After a while, the girls were starting to get exhausted and they new that they would all collapse soon. It was Lily's turn behind the stronghold and she knew that they needed backup. She scanned the grounds and soon her eyes lay on two Ravenclaw girls walking only a short distance away from them.  
  
"Hey! Hey you two over there! Wanna join in?" she yelled over her friends' laughter.  
  
The two girls looked at each other and then nodded and ran over to where Lily was sitting.  
  
One of the girls looked around third year and the other about first.  
  
"Hey thanks" she said as they both sat down beside her.  
  
"My names Lily, it'd be great if you could help us out, these guys are whipping us!"  
  
The smaller girls rosy cheeks formed dimples as she smiled up at the snow fight behind them.  
  
"Sure!" she said happily.  
  
The older girl looked excitedly at Lily and swished back her dark brown hair.  
  
"Hi I'm Monique, this is my 'lil sis, Gwen" she said.  
  
"Kay" Lily obliged, "The only rules are, no magic, and be as ruthless as you can, these guys stop at nothing" she said waving her hand at the three boys now on the field.  
  
Both the girls nodded.  
  
"Now on the count of three, we'll all run out and attack!" she said smiling.  
  
"Ready? One! Two! Three!"  
  
The three of them lunged themselves out of the fort and rampaged onto the field in a flurry.  
  
The five current players looked at them in surprise as they scraped up snow and rounded it into snowballs to throw at them.  
  
Miria and Andromeda yelled in delight as the others shouted in protest but kept throwing.  
  
Remus was worried about the little girl on the field, so when hitting her he didn't throw as hard, but when a snowball hit him with about as much force as Sirius' he spun around to come face to face with the first year and looked at her, surprised as she sped around him and hit another at James.  
  
Sirius ducked as Monique threw a ball of snow at him and jumped back up to find one hit the back of his head. He spun around to see two tall boys dressed in the Ravenclaw colours of blue a short distance away.  
  
"Hey Sirius! Wanna hand?" One of them called.  
  
Sirius' grin widened as they ran over to the commotion.  
  
"Well if it isn't the Prewett twins!"  
  
"Hey guys we got back up!" Sirius called.  
  
James and Remus looked around briefly to see the two seventh years join in. They all grinned mischievously as they met eyes with one another.  
  
"No! No, no, no! That's unfair! Not Gid and Fab!" Miria whined from in the middle of the field.  
  
"Come on Mere, we're not that bad!" Gideon said as he aimed a snowball at Lily.  
  
"Yeah Miria leave the twins alone!" James put in.  
  
"Oh, right, easy for you to say, you didn't date him" Miria pointed towards Gideon, "For two months"  
  
"Miria two months isn't very long" Remus said as she ducked a snowball aimed by Andromeda.  
  
"What are you talking about, two months is ages!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
"See, that's what you both have in common, you can't keep a relationship together for longer then a week before you start getting restless" Miria said as she threw a snowball towards Gideon.  
  
Gideon grabbed onto his brothers sleeve so he wouldn't topple over as the ball made impact with his gut.  
  
"You never told me you went out with anyone before" Andromeda said looking at Miria, surprised.  
  
Fabian looked over to Andromeda as he threw a snowball at Lily.  
  
"This your cousin Sirius?"  
  
"Yes, who's asking?" Andromeda said as she pulled herself up off the ground where she had fallen.  
  
"Oh, heard a lot about you" Gideon stated as he too turned his eyes towards the black haired girl.  
  
"Fabian Prewett" Fabian introduced as he went over to shake her hand, "And this here is me half wit twin, Gideon" he said pointing towards Gid who smiled and chased back after Miria.  
  
Fabian span around as he felt something sweep past his legs and he looked down to see Gwen grinning evilly up at him. As he was distracted he caught a ball in the gut aimed by Monique.  
  
"Oh no, not you two"  
  
"Please tell me it's not evil Gwen" Gideon almost pleaded.  
  
Gwen laughed and threw a snowball at him.  
  
"Evil?" Lily asked perplexedly.  
  
"This little devil caught us throwing dung bombs up the girls' dormitory stairs and threw them back down and hit us on the head" Fabian explained.  
  
"On purpose" Gideon added.  
  
"Well you deserved it" Gwen justified.  
  
Lily smiled at the small girl, "Good on you!"  
  
Gwen poked her tongue out at Gideon and Gideon childishly poked his back out at her.  
  
The girls' savoir was Gwen, who weaved in and out of the other players, unnoticed amongst the tall boys. She often tripped them over as Monique; with her killer aim hit them hard in the gut.  
  
One by one the players dropped to the ground, exhausted until only Gwen and Sirius were left battling it out to the end.  
  
"Owe! Owe! Come back here you little devil!" Sirius shouted as the smaller girl's snowballs hit him as he was running after her.  
  
Gwen danced out of his reach as she ducked yet another ball thrown by Sirius.  
  
"Well Sirius, it looks like you've met your match" Andromeda said as she watched the expedition from her spot above Lily on the ground.  
  
Sirius turned to look at his cousin in disbelief.  
  
"Sirius Black has not met his- Arrrghhhhh!"  
  
For the split second that the marauder had turned his head Gwen had come up behind him and yanked his legs from underneath him. Sirius toppled over onto the snow in a heap next to James as the girl whooped with glee. He lay in a tangle as the others laughed with her.  
  
Sirius grabbed at her ankles from his place on the ground and she fell down on top of him mid-cackle.  
  
"Ha! Who's laughing now!" he exclaimed triumphantly.  
  
Gwen poked him in the gut and rolled over to sit on his stomach.  
  
"What is it with people and sitting on me?!"  
  
"You just must be very comfy and pudgy Padfoot" James said.  
  
"Then what does that make Peter?" Remus asked.  
  
Everyone laughed at this comment as they lay in the snow, oblivious to the wet ice saturating their heavy clothes.  
  
Lily smiled up at the clouds overhead and closed her eyes for a moment just to store this memory in her mind for years to come. She opened her mouth to say something to Andromeda when a clump of snow was stuffed into her wide open trap. She snapped open her eyes to see James standing above her with a delightful grin upon his face.  
  
"That's for throwing a snowball at me you know where"  
  
Lily pushed herself off the ground with sudden force as she spluttered and leapt towards James who swiftly jumped out of the way. She scooped up some snow from the ground and pegged it at him as he ran backwards with an arrogant smile plastered on his face.  
  
She lunged towards him again but he caught her and heaved her up to throw over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.  
  
Lily banged her fists on his back as he walked back over to the laughing group.  
  
"James let me down!!" she screeched.  
  
"Only if you say the magic word" he said teasingly.  
  
"No! I shouldn't have to! Now let me down!!" she said stubbornly.  
  
"Oh come on Lily, just one magic word"  
  
"NO!" she exclaimed pounding his back harder.  
  
"But there are so many of them, all you have to do is choose one"  
  
Lily suddenly stopped pounding.  
  
"Oh, well in that case"  
  
Her hand flew to the pocked of her jeans and just as she was about to retrieve the wand that lay inside, another hand caught her wrist in a strong grip.  
  
"Now Lily, honestly, do you really think I'd let you blow my buddy up on Christmas day?" Sirius asked teasingly.  
  
Lily let our a very exasperated noise from her throat as Sirius reached into her jean pocket and whipped out her wand.  
  
"I'll be keeping this until you-somehow-get free"  
  
Lily reached out her arms in a failed attempt to snatch her wand back but Sirius easily jumped out of her reach, only to once more come a finger-span away from her hands then quickly leap back as she made to grab it. After a few more attempts she gave up and hung limp on James' shoulder, subsiding muttering some very colourful words.  
  
"Dear, dear Evans, your vocabulary seems to have expanded largely since we last fought" James commented as he hitched her higher onto his shoulder.  
  
"It seems so has your weight-"  
  
That was enough for Lily, she quickly acted upon her last resort; she kicked with her foot hard where she knew it would hurt him most; his groin.  
  
"Oof!" James toppled over in pain and Lily fell down with him as he loosened his grip on her.  
  
All the other boys standing around winced and looked at him with either pained faces or great sympathy.  
  
However, all the girls seemed to think it was hilariously funny.  
  
"And that's what I call kicking your ass!" Lily said triumphantly as she leaned over James' crumpled form.  
  
"Evans that was pure evil" Sirius said as he threw Gwen off to lean over his silently gasping fellow marauder.  
  
"Jeez Lily, how hard did you kick!" Fabian asked as he too looked on.  
  
"Too-hard" James said through a sharp intake of breath.  
  
"Ok, how many fingers am I holding up?" Sirius asked.  
  
"Sirius my getting kicked in the groin doesn't affect my vision!" he said exasperatedly swatting his hand away.  
  
"It does when you have tears in your eyes" Remus pointed out.  
  
"I-am not crying!!" James said indignantly.  
  
"Looks like it hurt more then I thought" Lily pondered.  
  
"You have no idea" Gideon commented.  
  
Monique, however, didn't seem to notice James' pain, or took immense joy out of it as she couldn't stop herself from giggling and had to shove her fist in her mouth.  
  
James finally sat up.  
  
"Er. . . Potter, are you alright?" Lily asked a little uncomfortably looking down at his pained face.  
  
"No" he said irritably, "You could have prevented me from ever having children you kicked so hard!"  
  
Lily was about to shout that he deserved it when she processed what he had said.  
  
"Urgh! Potter! Bad mental images!" Lily said with a disgusted face.  
  
"Yes, but the point is you were having mental images" he pointed out, a grin once more spreading across his face.  
  
Lily snorted, "Yeah, whatever, you deserved it!"  
  
"Oh I did, did I?" He asked as he took Remus and Sirius' arms to help pull him back up.  
  
"Who hit me. . . there. . .with a snowball in the first place!"  
  
"Well you were goading me!"  
  
"There's no rules Evans!"  
  
"You were still asking for it!"  
  
"I wasn't asking for it there!"  
  
"Well it's not my fault I have bad aim!"  
  
"Then you should have tried out for chaser to improve it!"  
  
"You know I'm petrified of heights you prat!"  
  
"That's why I suggested it!"  
  
"Seriously, do they ever take a break?" Fabian asked Andromeda.  
  
"Well ever since I came here at the beginning of the year, no, they haven't"  
  
Lily was now yelling about something that James had done to her in their third year and James was commenting smoothly, not once raising his voice.  
  
"You know, you two would make a really good couple" Gideon stated, draping his arms around both of their shoulders.  
  
"I keep telling her tha-"  
  
"You keep your mouth shut Gideon Prewett!" Lily said and pulled away from him to continued with her ranting, obviously determined to prove James wrong.  
  
"Well I don't know about anyone else but it's getting rather chilly out here, I'm going back inside" Miria said as she rubbed her cold arms.  
  
"Mmm, me too" Andromeda said.  
  
They both started to walk back up towards the castle and the others followed, all except for Lily and James.  
  
"WELL YOU'RE THE ONE WHO PUT PINK POTION IN MY HAIR!!"  
  
"But it looked so sexy!"  
  
"I DON'T CARE!!"  
  
"Urgh! They're giving me a headache!" Gwen stated.  
  
"Mmmm" Remus said with pursed lips, "Hey I got an idea!"  
  
Remus' face cracked into a trade marked marauder grin.  
  
"You'll have to do the charm though Sirius, I'm not very good at it"  
  
Sirius grinned; he knew exactly what his friend was talking about.  
  
"My pleasure"  
  
"What?" Monique asked.  
  
"You'll see"  
  
They reached the heavy doors to the castle and pulled them open; they could still hear Lily screeching across the grounds, totally oblivious that they were gone.  
  
Remus and Sirius closed the doors behind them and as the yelling drowned out Sirius leant against them and closed his eyes.  
  
"You hear that?" he asked contently.  
  
"What?" Gwen asked, falling for one of the oldest tricks in the book.  
  
"Silence" he sighed.  
  
"Hurry up Sirius, before they notice!" Remus urged.  
  
"Okay, okay" he said taking out his wand.  
  
"Which one shall it be?" he asked playfully, "Nothing that can counter curse Alohamorah I suppose?"  
  
"Obviously" Remus rolled his eyes.  
  
Fabian caught onto their idea immediately.  
  
"Try Conjunctuous"  
  
"Good idea"  
  
Sirius was just about to whisper the spell when Professor McGonagall came walking out of the great hall.  
  
"And what do you think your doing Mr. Black?" she asked sharply, obviously Christmas hadn't effected her usual snappy behavior.  
  
"Trying to lock Lily and James out so we don't have to listen to their screaming Professor" Sirius said truthfully as he muttered the spell with his tongue between his teeth in concentration.  
  
Professor McGonagall lifted an eyebrow at the group.  
  
"Move out of the way Mr. Black, I know a much better spell then that!"  
  
~*~  
  
Woohoo! I hope you liked it, it was heaps fun to write! PLEASE review, cos I didn't get many last time. And next chapter, dun dun duunnnn!! You get to see what Andromeda has in plan for Sirius. . .hehehe! Thanks to my two new reviewers, LightningFairy and F and G W. Until next time! ^.~  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams 


	12. Suspicious Discovery

Thanks so much for all the reviews everyone! They were really great! I'd just like to say that I am soooo sorry that I haven't updated for a while, I've been bombarded with heaps of maths homework and since it's not my strongest subject (and far from favourite) I've been pre-occupied with that for most of the time. I'd just like you to also know that this chapter is late because I've actually started writing another fic that isn't posted yet, it was a 'in the feeling' thing, so yes, my time hasn't completely gone to waste. Well I'll stop my yabbering and get onto the fanfic!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Chapter 12: Suspicious discovery  
  
It took Lily and James exactly fifteen minutes to realize that they were indeed alone on the snow covered grounds of Hogwarts, and by that time, it had started to snow and was getting thicker by the second. James had given up with his come backs when he had tried to move his feat and then realized that they, and every other part of his body, were slowly becoming numb.  
  
Lily had danced back up to the castle with a smile plastered on her face from winning the fight out; however, when she found that she couldn't open the heavy doors to get into the warmth of the castle, she wasn't feeling as content.  
  
James trudged after her, shaking his head at her madness. She was currently banging on the doors and pushing them as hard as she could.  
  
"Evans, what the hell are you doing?" he asked as he came up behind her.  
  
"I'm trying to-" she yanked the handles, "get-the doors-open" she said out of breath.  
  
"Well obviously" he rolled his eyes, "Why aren't you using your wand?"  
  
"Your best buddy still has it!" she said exasperatedly, as if it was all his fault (which was partly true).  
  
"Here, let me try" he said pushing her aside.  
  
James held his wand up to the doors and said a spell that would hopefully reveal what charm had been used.  
  
They both waited in silence for a while, but nothing happened. James pondered as he touched the wood with his fingers, his other hand mussing up his hair.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"McGonagall cast this spell" he stated grimly.  
  
"Oh really? Telepathic are you now Potter?" Lily asked irritably.  
  
"No, McGonagall and my wands are just very much alike" he stated, "I can tell by the way the spell's cast"  
  
Lily mimicked him childishly as she looked around and the fast falling snow about her.  
  
"Try Alohamorah"  
  
"Evans do you really think that a Professor would use a charm that could be counter cursed by a first grader?"  
  
"Well it's worth a try, I don't know about you but I don't want to be stuck in this freezing soon-to-be blizzard while everyone else is inside sitting in a squishy armchair next to the warm fire!" Lily snapped, her teeth chattering together.  
  
James ruffled his black hair in consideration.  
  
"And stop doing that! It's annoying!"  
  
"I can't help it, it's a habit" he said defensively.  
  
Lily snorted, "Yeah, whatever"  
  
"Look, I've got a better plan, it'll get us inside quicker, but you'll have to let me blindfold you"  
  
"What?! No way! What do you think I am, crazy?!"  
  
"Do I have to answer that. . ."  
  
"Oh shut it!"  
  
James didn't have enough time to argue, if they didn't go now he wouldn't be able to find the entrance to the passage through the snow.  
  
"Oh fine, but you'll have to promise not to tell anyone about it or I'll have to put a memory charm on you, and you know how they're not really my expertise"  
  
Lily couldn't really care where they were going, she just wanted to get into the warmth before she got frost bight.  
  
She rolled her eyes, "Oh fine, just get us inside without killing me, Ok?"  
  
"Hey! I'm the one doing the favor here! Stop snapping at me!"  
  
"It's a habit" Lily said smugly.  
  
James sighed and started to walk along the side of the castle, trying to find some shelter from the snow close to the tall stone wall. Lily gave one more longing look at the large wooden doors and then begrudgingly followed suit, hoping she wasn't making a big mistake.  
  
They walked around to the back of the castle in silence. Lily had to stay close to James so she wouldn't lose sight of him in the thick snow falling about her and when he stopped abruptly she bumped unintentionally into his back.  
  
"Watch out!"  
  
"Well at least give me warning when you're going to stop so suddenly!"  
  
James rolled his eyes, "Come on, help me move these dead branches aside" he said indicating to the leafless bushes in front of him.  
  
Lily looked at him suspiciously but obliged all the same, thinking of the warmth of the burning fire in the common room.  
  
When they had pushed their way through the tangle of twigs into a small clearing both of their robes were slightly torn and Lily had several scratches that had dug underneath her flimsy gloves and onto her hands.  
  
"Oh, I can see how this was the easier way" she said sarcastically as she fell almost ankle deep into the snow.  
  
"Oh quick your whining, we're nearly there" James said as he plundered on towards the stone wall in front of them, "And I never said it was easier, I just said it was quicker then just- Oh bullocks!" James' hand had been feeling around the bricks on the wall when he had come to the very bottom near the snow.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The entrance is under the snow"  
  
"Oh, well isn't that lovely, you can't tell me that you dragged me all the way here in the freezing cold to realize that we can't get in!"  
  
"I didn't drag you here; you came of your own accord, you could have stayed if you wanted" he pointed out.  
  
"Well here's what I get when I trust James Potter!"  
  
"I can't control the weather Evans! If it hadn't have snowed then the entrance wouldn't be blocked!"  
  
"Well you should have thought of that, shouldn't you?"  
  
"I never think before I act, you know that" James said as if stating the obvious.  
  
"Urgh! You're so annoying!"  
  
"I know, it's part of my charm" he said flashing her a grin.  
  
Lily was just about to burst out with another witty remark when James held up a hand to silence her.  
  
"Look" he said, becoming serious, "I'm going to have to do something that might tend to freak you out so I can move this snow without us both getting frost bite from trying to do it ourselves" James said cautiously.  
  
"And what would that be?" Lily asked distrustfully, her sharp green eyes boring into him.  
  
James sighed and ruffled his hair, "Well I guess there's no use stalling" he muttered, and with that, he closed his eyes in concentration and within seconds had morphed into a large, noble looking stag.  
  
Lily gasped and fell over, startled.  
  
She had, of course, seen Professor McGonagall turn into her animagus form, and Annie had demonstrated it to her as well but they were both small animals, a cat and an owl, but this stag standing in front of her was huge!  
  
Lily backed away slightly; they had touched slightly on the topic of Animagi in transfiguration, and she had read a little about it in books, but she couldn't be sure that James was fully himself in the stags mind.  
  
The stag rolled its hazel eyes and they seemed to twinkle in mirth, if that was possible for a stag.  
  
Lily scowled at it.  
  
"You could have given me some warning"  
  
She new that he could understand her; Andromeda had told her that they were able to understand human speech as they still had most of their human brain inside of the animals body, they only had an animal instinct, which now, when she came to think about it, must be the reason why Sirius tended to eat so much like a dog.  
  
The stag shrugged its large shoulders and turner around to face the wall. It dug its hoofs into the snow and started to scrape it away until the dirt was visible underneath.  
  
Lily watched in fascination until she heard a twig snap behind her, she turned to find a small squirrel running through the bushes back the way they had came, when she turned back around she found James standing in front of the wall grinning.  
  
"Done!" he exclaimed as if nothing at all out of the ordinary had happened.  
  
"Finally" she said, trying to look bored so he wouldn't catch on that she was actually very intrigued.  
  
James reached down and tapped one of the bricks third from the bottom with his wand whispering "Procarnot" softly enough so that Lily wouldn't hear.  
  
The wall became transparent; it was like looking through water onto the other side.  
  
Lily's mouth fell open and she stood there gaping at the small doorway.  
  
"What did?-How'd you? How'd it?"  
  
"Jeez Evans, you need to get out more!" James said as he walked through the silvery wall.  
  
"Wait!" Lily yelled, and, afraid of being left behind she plunged through the wall as well.  
  
James just laughed at her as she came stumbling through it onto the other side.  
  
The snow and dead bushes could be seen as a blurry mass through the liquid- type wall, but she could also make out the bricks in the picture, as if a reflection in a glass window.  
  
Lily looked around where she was now standing. It was some sort of stone passageway. Very spacey, she had to admit. Not at all the sort of secret passage she would imagine, but it was still slightly drafty, even though she couldn't see any other opening other than the one she had come in by.  
  
James tapped one of the transparent bricks, third from the bottom again and whispered the same spell and the blurry snow and bushes on the other side disappeared to be replaced with the original stone wall.  
  
"Lumos" James whispered as everything went dark, and his wand lit up to submit a small glow. Lily did the same.  
  
"How'd you know to do that? I mean, how do you know this is here?" Lily asked, in despite of herself, in awe.  
  
"I'm a marauder, what'd you expect!"  
  
"Yes, but how did you find it?"  
  
"Am I to understand that Lily Evans is interested in something to do with a marauder?" James asked in mock disbelief.  
  
Lily growled at him but he was not perturbed in the slightest, he wanted to make best out of this situation and drink it all in.  
  
"Yes or no Evans?"  
  
"It's my duty to know, as a prefect"  
  
"Puh! I'm shaking in my shoes" he said sarcastically, "Plus, Remus knows, and he's a prefect, so you don't have to"  
  
"I can't trust Remus anymore! He's a total law breaker too!" she said, making sure she put emphasis on the law part.  
  
"Yeah, well he can't help it, now can he?" James said spitefully.  
  
"Oh. . .yeah" Lily said a little guiltily.  
  
"It's still really dangerous, what you do though" Lily said, "You know that don't you?" she then asked; not at all too shore what the answer would be.  
  
"Of course I know it's dangerous! He's a werewolf for Merlin's sakes!" James replied, "But trust me Evans, Sirius and I are big enough to take care of it, sure, there are near risks, but he never gets anyone, and that's what matters"  
  
"You know as well as I do that that's a load of bull" Lily said dangerously, "Sirius says that doesn't he? It's just like him James! You know better then that, I know you do! If one of you ever got seriously hurt Remus would never forgive himself, and don't look at me like that, I've known him just as long as you have and I know that his personality doesn't like to be bowed down with guilt!"  
  
Lily was even surprised she had just said what she had, and it showed as she clapped her hand over her mouth and murmured something incoherent behind it.  
  
James, however, didn't reply quite the way she was expecting. He sighed as he looked at her; his eyes were sad and far away.  
  
"He's my friend Evans, you don't get it, when I found out what he was I wasn't afraid, I wasn't repulsed, I felt guilty, I thought it was my fault, somehow I wasn't making it better, Remus is a great guy, you couldn't find anyone nicer then him, you really couldn't. He doesn't deserve to live this sort of life so I want to do everything I can to help him. If turning into an animal with him once a month makes his life easier then I would do it every night, I would live as a stag if it meant it would all go away. When we're with him he's himself, he isn't a werewolf as such, and he's so much just a normal wolf . . ."  
  
James ran his hands through his hair.  
  
"I don't know if I am explaining this too well" he stated a he lent up against the stone wall.  
  
"We don't do this to be rebels Lily, no one knows about it except for us, with the exception of Miria, you and Annie more recently. We didn't do this for another one of our stunts and we didn't do it to show off, we did it because we wanted to help him. Before we turned into animagi he would come back from full moon so battered and bruised and torn apart, mentally and physically, that he had to stay in the hospital wing for at least three days. He used to kill himself when he transformed. When he found out that we knew, Peter, Sirius and I, he almost had a heart attack, the look on his face was so horrified and panicked that I thought I'd never get it out of my mind. We're the only friends he has ever had, and we stuck with him, even when we knew what he was. He lives off that, and I just don't want to let him down. You have to understand that we all know it's dangerous, being cocky is how we handle it, but if breaking the law is what I have to do to keep Remus alive; I'll do it a million times over"  
  
Lily stood silent, thinking over what James had said. She knew it was true, knew she couldn't deny against anything he had said. And for once in her lifetime, she knew he was sincere.  
  
"There's more to you then I ever could have imagined in my wildest dreams James Potter" Lily said, and a slight ghost of a smile appeared on her face for a moment, as she turned to start down the tunnel.  
  
"And what's that supposed to mean?" James asked as he jotted out of his reverie and jogged up after her.  
  
"I thought I had had you worked out from day one. I was wrong" Lily stated, looking straight ahead.  
  
James spluttered; he was at loss for words.  
  
"Y-you-did you just admit you were wrong?!" he asked amazedly.  
  
"Yes, I did, clean out your ears" Lily said simply, trying hard not to look at him as a burning redness started to creep up her cheeks.  
  
"Evans you're blushing"  
  
"I am not!" Lily said indignantly.  
  
"Oh yes you are! Lily Evans just admitted she was wrong and now she's blushing! The sky must be falling!" James exclaimed as he danced around.  
  
Lily found his sudden change of mood slightly off-putting.  
  
"Alright, don't rub it in"  
  
"Why not? That's what we do; it's in the unspoken rules"  
  
"What unspoken rules?" Lily asked, annoyed that he had caught her.  
  
"We're not supposed to talk about them Evans, that's why their called unspoken"  
  
"Right" Lily said as she turned towards a fork in the tunnel.  
  
"Your ears are as red as you hair" James observed.  
  
"Which way?" Lily asked.  
  
"What? Oh, right" James said, breaking his gaze away from her.  
  
They walked on for a couple of minutes longer, James silently chuckling to himself at the redness on Lily's face.  
  
"So, how did you find this place anyways?" Lily asked again carefully.  
  
James ruffled his hair in consideration.  
  
"Well taking to account that I've just told you more then I've ever told any of my girlfriends-"  
  
"Wait! You talked in between all that snogging?" Lily asked incredulously, she just couldn't help but slight him.  
  
"That's a bit off-hand Evans, when you're the one who wants to know"  
  
"Sorry, I can't help it, it's a habit" she drawled.  
  
James glared at her.  
  
"Ok, ok, sorry, keep going"  
  
"Yes, as I was saying, since I've told you more then I've ever told any of my girlfriends. . ."  
  
"Yes" Lily urged him.  
  
"You'll just have to become my girlfriend to find out more"  
  
"James!" Lily cried exasperatedly.  
  
James laughed to himself as he backed away when she tried to hit him on the arm.  
  
"See, we're already on first name terms"  
  
Lily growled, and slumped her shoulders in frustration.  
  
"If you thought about it, you'd figure it out" James said as they walked on.  
  
"When you run around the same place every full moon you have to find something that no one else knows about" he said simply.  
  
A dawning look of understanding spread over Lily's face and she was just about to say something when James clapped his hand over her mouth.  
  
Lily twisted around furiously but as she turned James put a finger to his own lips to signal for her to be quiet and lifted his hand away from her.  
  
He then walked over to a wooden door in the stone, one of which Lily hadn't noticed, and pressed his ear up against it. Lily followed his lead and soon enough she could hear two people talking in low whispers.  
  
James unbolted the door with ease and opened it a creak to see who was talking.  
  
The door was positioned behind an old book case, but they could just see two figures through a space unfilled by the ancient novels.  
  
The speaker standing closest to them had short blond hair and very profound and pointy features, the other had greasy black hair and beetle eyes.  
  
"Snape and Malfoy" James stated in a low whisper.  
  
"Where are we?" Lily asked.  
  
"Slytherin common room. . . I think"  
  
Lily's face turned into a surprised expression and she was just about to say something but James held his hand up to silence her and pointed towards the two students.  
  
"When did you find out?" Snape asked in a curious tone.  
  
"A couple of weeks ago, Rookwood informed me"  
  
"And how many have you both collected so far?"  
  
"Collected? You make them sound like toys"  
  
"I didn't mean it that way" Snape said irritably.  
  
"So how many are there?"  
  
"Twenty so far"  
  
"And who else are you going to ask?"  
  
"My girlfriend, Narcissa Black, he-"  
  
James leaned in a little closer to the book case; he knew that name only to well.  
  
"Black?!" Snape spat out the name.  
  
"Yes" Malfoy said coolly.  
  
"As in Sirius Black?"  
  
"She is his cousin, yes" Malfoy stated.  
  
"Well what would you want with them?"  
  
"Dear, dear Severus, all those dark arts books you read and you don't even know one of the most famous pure blood families"  
  
"Sirius Black isn't one of my favourite subjects" Snape said bitterly.  
  
"Well I'll just let you know that Sirius and Andromeda Black are lets say, the white sheep of the family, so to speak" Malfoy said dryly, "The Black family are as pure as the Malfoy's, their lineage traces back even further then ours. . .They had to produce some bad spawn along the line"  
  
James gritted his teeth, he was reminded with sudden force how much he hated Malfoy, almost as much as Snape himself.  
  
Snape nodded understandably.  
  
"I'll be informing Narcissa, and her sister Bellatrix, they are both Andomreda Black's sisters, and also Rodolphus and Rabastan Lestrange and Regulus Black"  
  
"Regulus?" Snape inquired.  
  
"Sirius' brother"  
  
"Do you really think that wise?" Snape asked, "He might leak to Black"  
  
"You need to take your greasy nose out of a book once in a while and listen to natural human conversation" Malfoy stated, "Black ran away from the his family, slammed the door in his mother's face as I'm to understand and ran off to live with the filthy blood traitors; the Potters"  
  
James made a low hissing sound under his breath and this time it was Lily's turn to shoot him a warning look, however, his eyes were transfixed on the two young men standing on the other side of the bookcase.  
  
"Regulus is loyal to his family, and Narcissa has assured me that he has been acting up to standards with no troubles at Durmstrang"  
  
"And how can you be sure that Andromeda Blacks two sisters won't leak to her?"  
  
"Are you contradicting my girlfriend Severus?" Lucius asked dangerously.  
  
"No" Snape said quickly, "its just woman are very gossip orientated" he explained lamely.  
  
"You need to get a life" Lucius muttered as he rubbed his brow.  
  
Snape wasn't at all perturbed by Lucius' bitter remarks towards him, he was used to people saying such things, and he didn't want to get on the bad side of the Malfoy family, they would be a tough enemy.  
  
"No, I assure you, they won't leak a thing; all of the Blacks don't want anything to do with the two disowned blood traitors"  
  
Snape nodded.  
  
"I can understand why they don't want anything to do with them, filthy disrespectful-"  
  
James had had enough, he wanted to go and curse both of them to oblivion, and he actually made to grab his wand. Lily saw what he was going to do and grasped his arm. James knocked his elbow against the wooden door and a dull thump echoed through the silent room.  
  
"What was that?" Snape asked as he whipped his wand out and skimmed the room with his eyes.  
  
Lucius did the same thing but drew slowly closer to the bookcase where Lily and James were now both crouching, holding their breaths in silent anticipation.  
  
James' wand hand was twitching furiously as he tried to prize it free of Lily's grip in the cramped space.  
  
"It was probably just a house elf" Snape stated as he lowered his wand.  
  
Lucius turned around to face him, and in that moment Lily took the chance to pull James back into the stone tunnel and force the door closed silently behind them.  
  
"Stupid, bloody, greasy, sodding piece of-"  
  
"James shutup!" Lily hissed, "They'll hear you!"  
  
James subsided to muttering some choice words under his breath that were just as colourful as Lily's had been.  
  
Lily listened intently as she pressed her ear up against the door but she heard nothing from the other side. She didn't know if this was a good or bad thing and started to get increasingly nervous.  
  
She walked more urgently back over to James who was gripping his wand tightly in his hand, silently fuming. Suddenly, to both of their surprise, red sparks started shooting out of the end of it.  
  
"Put it down!" Lily exclaimed, trying her hardest to be quiet.  
  
She grabbed his wrist and dragged him further down the tunnel, when she felt they were out of ear shot she almost fumed at him.  
  
"Hasn't anyone ever told you never to hold your wand when you're angry?!"  
  
James jabbed his wand back into his robes.  
  
"Grimy gits!" he stated angrily, "I should've given them a piece of my mind!"  
  
Lily ignored his ravings and set her mind on other things.  
  
"So, she has set them up with beautiful pure blood boyfriends after all" Lily muttered.  
  
James caught onto what she was saying and ruffled his hair in reflection.  
  
"Course she has" James stated, "To keep the family blood stream pure and untainted" he mocked.  
  
"I see you've been well educated on all this pure blood stuff too" Lily commented dryly.  
  
"Yes but difference being, I come from a pure blood family who don't want to put a decree to the ministry to allow muggle hunting"  
  
Silence followed for a moment as they kept walking along the tunnel.  
  
"They were talking about. . . collecting people" Lily said as she thought back.  
  
James was oddly silent for a moment and his face was impassive, Lily could tell he was hiding something.  
  
"What, what is it?" she asked.  
  
"I'll explain when we get back and tell Sirius, I'm sure he'll think this all very interesting. . ."  
  
~*~  
  
Sirius gave out a hollow laugh from his seat near the fire in the warmly lit common room.  
  
"Wonderful, respectable Regulus, I'm sure dearest Mother and Father will think he's a right little hero for getting involved with his older cousins doings" he said bitterly.  
  
"Merlin our families predictable" Andromeda muttered as she ran a hand through her raven hair, "Narcissa and Malfoy, what a perfectly ingenious match, I'm sure my Mother was positively delighted with herself"  
  
Sirius grimly nodded his agreement.  
  
"I'm sure Malfoy and Snape had a lot of lovely and heart warming things to say about us" he stated, not at all bothering to cover the hatred in his tone. Sirius was like that, he was blunt and to the point, and often spoke his mind.  
  
"Don't know about them but James' language was pretty colourful" Lily stated amusedly as she sat, warming her frozen hands in front of the fireplace.  
  
Remus smirked half-heartedly; that's something they had all picked up from some of Sirius' more. . .rather disgusting talents.  
  
"So what do you think they're up to?" Miria asked.  
  
"Probably something foul beyond all reason if it includes the Malfoy's, Blacks and Snape" Sirius commented as he started to pace the room in a very Remus-like fashion.  
  
"Malfoy mentioned the Lestrange's as well, and Rookwood" James said grimly.  
  
Remus whistled, "That's one hell of a party"  
  
"Do you think it'd be anything big?" Lily asked, "I mean they said they were collecting people"  
  
"Well they said they had twenty so far, right?" Sirius asked.  
  
James nodded.  
  
"It can't be too serious I guess; most of them are pretty young, I mean Regulus is only in third year" Sirius reasoned.  
  
"But still. . .Rookwood, you know the people he hangs around with, and he's out of school" James said.  
  
"What would they do though, in this group?" Miria asked.  
  
"I don't know, plan muggle hunting parties, secret conspiracy theories, over-take the whole world because they think they're royalty" Sirius said this meaning for it to be a joke, but somehow a solemn silence fell over the group. The truth was this could be entirely possible for all they knew, there were still enough powerful pure blood families to do such things. . ."  
  
It was James who finally broke the silence.  
  
"You know, I've noticed Snivellus sneaking around more the usual lately, namely around us actually, and the forbidden forest"  
  
Remus' head shot up as he heard James' words.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Sirius and I saw him walk in there on the first day of school, I believe Lily was there as well. . ." James left the sentence going, looking slyly over at Lily.  
  
"But I thought you were just-"  
  
"Think again"  
  
"Well you're always making stuff up like that! How was I supposed to know you weren't lying when you said you saw him go in there?!"  
  
Remus put his hand up to silence James from retorting and spoke directly to both of his friends.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me about it?"  
  
"Well we didn't want you to get troubled and all" James mumbled as he looked down at his feat, "We knew you'd get edgy if Snape was lurking around the places we go at full moon"  
  
"It's probably nothing to do with us anyway" Sirius said, trying to calm the anxious expression creeping on to Remus' face, "Now we know that something's going on with this group-thing"  
  
"What if that group thing has to do with us?" Remus asked quietly.  
  
Sirius opened his mouth and closed it again, he knew that was a valid point and couldn't really argue with it, however, it seemed that Andromeda could.  
  
"But why would they want to know stuff about you guys, I mean, most of them don't even go to this school, and if I know my sisters, they won't want anything to do with us" she said waving her hand to indicate she was talking about herself and Sirius, "The pure blood families have 'disowned' us" she said mockingly.  
  
"But still, do you think he would have picked up on the markings?"  
  
"No, no one looks at trees that intricately" Sirius said shaking his head.  
  
"Padfoot, they were pretty big"  
  
"And normal animals don't go around carving S's into bark" Remus pointed out.  
  
"You've lost me" Lily stated as she listened to them discuss the matter.  
  
"Sirius marks an S on the trees in the forest that we have gone past with his claws so we don't get lost when we rout off a path" James explained, "We didn't think anyone would notice since no one really goes in there"  
  
"Still, Snivellus wouldn't have gone off the paths, from the reputation that it gets, he knows that heaps of dangerous creatures are in there" Sirius justified.  
  
"Wait!" Lily said putting her hands up, "Stop and rewind! Didn't Malfoy just tell Snape this today?"  
  
There was silence as the others considered this.  
  
"See, it probably just has nothing to do with us!" Sirius declared, "Snivellus is probably just being Snivellus and is snooping around in other people's business"  
  
"Maybe" Remus said uncertainly, "I still think we should follow him next time we see him going near the forest though"  
  
They all nodded in agreement. Everything went silent until Mira asked a question out of the blue.  
  
"Why did Regulus transfer to Durmstrang?" She enquired curiously.  
  
Andromeda and Sirius exchanged looks for a moment as Sirius stopped pacing.  
  
"Because of me" he said simply. This earned a confused look from Miria and Lily.  
  
"What exactly did you say to your mother before you ran out?" Lily asked slowly.  
  
Sirius gave another short laugh.  
  
"Only that I hated them all and that they're a pack of obsessed, infatuated sodding cowards" Sirius pondered a little on this, "With some choice words such as your lovely vocabulary in between" he added as an after thought.  
  
"Oh, then I can see why she was just a tad angry" Lily said sarcastically.  
  
"Look" Remus reasoned, "It's nearly time for dinner, and we don't want to make this put a damper on Christmas, so let's just forget it and come back to it later on shall we?" he asked, he didn't particularly want to procrastinate on it at the moment.  
  
They all nodded, they knew they could analyze it further later.  
  
Dinner was enticing, with the great hall decorated in giant Christmas trees and fairies flittering around the table while the steaming hot turkey and pudding and many other of Hogwarts' traditional Christmas feasts filled their stomachs.  
  
The marauders suspected that Professor McGonagall had deliberately seated them on the end of the table, farthest away from Snape and Malfoy, and to Sirius' horror, right next to Gwen, who, as time went on they realized was a very confident little girl, with a wit to match Lily's, not at all like her shy older sister.  
  
"Ahh! Gwenavier Tenesky I presume" Professor Dumbledore said as Gwen sat down in between Sirius and her sister, Monique.  
  
"Yes sir, but you can call me Gwen" She said as she stuck her hand out.  
  
Dumbledore shook it; his eye's twinkling in mirth.  
  
"Yes, I've heard a lot about you"  
  
Gwen's eyes grew big.  
  
"If it was from Gideon and Fabian Prewett Professor, it's not true!" she said quickly.  
  
Dumbledore chuckled.  
  
"Oh don't worry; I know much about the Prewett twins that they don't think anyone knows"  
  
At that moment Gid and Fab skidded into the hall.  
  
"Someone say our name?" Gideon asked as he marched up to the table and took a seat next to Professor McGonagall.  
  
"Shove over Gid, I want the spot next to my favourite Professor" Fabian said charmingly, pushing his brother out of the road.  
  
Professor McGonagall rolled her eyes.  
  
"And just when I thought we'd have a peaceful Christmas. . ."  
  
"Nah Professor, that was ruled out when we signed to stay" James said as he reached for a chicken wing.  
  
"By the way, thanks for the Christmas present" Sirius joined in, "Very. . .different" he wrinkled his nose.  
  
"My pleasure!" McGonagall said happily.  
  
"What?! I thought I was your favourite student!" Fabian said with mock hurt.  
  
"No Fab, you only think you are" Gideon stated.  
  
"May I enquire as to what the present was?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
"Detentions" Sirius stated.  
  
Dumbledore laughed, "Ah Minerva, you never fail to amuse me"  
  
The deputy headmistress wrinkled her nose "Yes, that is my aim in life" she said dryly.  
  
"Lighten up Prof. McG, it's Christmas" Fabian said, slapping her on the back.  
  
"Err, but these detentions" James started, "They're not to be taken tonight. . .are they?"  
  
"No!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed, "Why would I want to supervise a detention on Christmas, dear Merlin boy I didn't know you thought I was that much of a hum bug"  
  
"Well you never can be too shore, that's what I always say" little Professor Flitwick piped up.  
  
"Can you pass me the potatoes please Miss. Black?" Dumbledore asked.  
  
Andromeda floated them towards him but as they were floating over Sirius' head he quickly swept out his wand and, under the cover of the table, made the plate tip and crash into Gwen's lap, steaming potatoes and all.  
  
Gwen jumped out of her seat in a flurry, mash potato covering her purple robes.  
  
"Sirius Black!" Professor Sinistra exclaimed.  
  
Sirius looked up innocently.  
  
"Don't think I didn't see that!"  
  
"Honestly Sirius, I would have thought better of you, picking on a-"  
  
But Professor McGonagall bit back her words as Gwen, with one swift movement of her wand, made a meat pie splatter right in his face.  
  
"Miss Tenesky!"  
  
Gwen poked her tongue out at him as he was about to round on her but as he picked up a chicken leg to throw he found he was suddenly holding onto a frog.  
  
"Urgh!" He quickly let go of it.  
  
The table erupted into laughter, and even the two Slytherins snickered.  
  
"That's enough!" Professor McGonagall stated, putting down her wand.  
  
Dumbledore, however, didn't say a thing; instead he sat, watching while his eyes twinkled with mirth.  
  
"Scourify" Professor Sprout said the spell and Sirius' face and Gwen's robes were food free instantly.  
  
Gwen however, refused to sit down next to Sirius again and Sirius poked his tongue out at her.  
  
"Oh for Merlin's sake!" Monique muttered and moved over to sit next to Sirius while her sister took her previous spot next to Miria.  
  
A cold gush of wind flowed through the hall as the doors to the entrance hall opened and snow fluttered in towards the table and a large bulky form stepped into the firelight.  
  
"Sorry I'm late Professors" Hagrid said, taking off his large moleskin coat and bustling over to the table, "As I was walking abou' the forest doin' tha' er. . .Job, yer told me ter do Professor, I foun' some strange markings in the trees, rather shaped like S's"  
  
Sirius choked on the meat he was chewing on and down from him Remus dropped his fork on his plate with a clatter and James, Lily, Miria and Andromeda all stared at him as his hacking cough grew worse, though James, who was sitting next to him, made no attempt to help him, so Monique, the only person at the table not transfixed by the reactions this had gotten from the group of Gyffindors rolled her eyes and used her Ravenclaw intelligence to whack Sirius on the back hard.  
  
Once Sirius had spat out the piece of turkey he had stuck in his throat everyone was looking at him expectantly, Hagrid looking very confused at that.  
  
"Was it somethen' I said?"  
  
Sirius was extremely red in the face, which was a major contrast to Remus, who was as white as chalk and James, who's face had once again, become impassive. But in all the silence of wonder, no one noticed one of the Slytherins eyes boring into the Sirius' triumphantly, but when Sirius did, in fact look his way he quickly looked away, but Sirius new better, and started to become particularly uneasy.  
  
James watched this exchange in silence and then looked over at Dumbledore, who was looking over at Remus, his thoughts unreadable.  
  
"No Hagrid" he suddenly said calmly, "I believe it is normal, the centaurs like to leave their mark on the trees, it means Saturn, they think it brings good luck"  
  
"Oh" Hagrid said perplexedly, and sat down at the end of the table.  
  
All the Gryffindors breathed a sigh of relief and Remus' face started to regain colour to it, but James could still tell he was dodgy, which was well shown when he leant over and tapped his friend on the shoulder and Remus nearly jumped ten feat.  
  
"You alright mate?" James asked softly.  
  
"Y-yeah" Remus stuttered.  
  
Sirius elbowed James and gave him a warning glance and McGonagall looked their way.  
  
"We'll talk about it later" he muttered out of the corner of his mouth  
  
James nodded.  
  
"- And when Mars and Saturn align it forces the dark creatures of Jupiter to-"  
  
Professor McGonagall groaned; she hated Professor Releeny's lectures about Divination, which, in her opinion, was the most pointless and in-accurate magical subject created. She leant over to Fabian and muttered.  
  
"I'll excuse you from the first day of homework if you create a diversion"  
  
Fabian brightened considerably and nodded his agreement, then followed to whisper the proposition to his brother, who proceeded to inform the marauders.  
  
Within minutes the hall had gone pitch black dark, all of the floating candles on the roof had blown out and ghostly noises could be heard coming from the entrance hall, then, in a wave of glory ten flying suits of armour came crashing into the spacious hall, hollering various re-arranged Christmas songs (thanks to Peeves, who had enchanted them to do so as soon as the Christmas holidays had began) and sprinkled holly over the tables occupants.  
  
Albus Dumbledore smiled, chuckling to himself as the other students and teachers looked about in curiosity and the marauders and Prewett twins laughter filled the hall. The Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress had never been so relieved to have seen one tremendous prank.  
  
~*~  
  
Woohoo! That's done! Did you like it? I know I'm focusing a lot on Christmas, but it only comes once a year, and its fun to write. My next chapter will be a humourous one, I'll give you a preview: The marauders and three Gryffindor girls play a game that implies them to tell a secret that the rest don't know. . .James gets turned on, Remus put down, Miria and Andromeda extremely embarrassed, Lily does something rebellious and Sirius. . .nearly gets killed. . .by Andromeda! And what is Peter's deep, darkest secret, and why the hell did he entrust it with Sirius?!  
  
Ok, I hope that helps you to want to stick around! Here are my thanks to my ever so faithful reviewers (I can't thank you enough, but I'm sorry, I won't reply to everyone, not unless it's a direct question): Agloechen, Musicstarlover, queenofdespair216, emily, Queen Catrihara, Tanja J Potter, Biddett da Pigeon Stalker, justshroomin' and a reply to:  
  
Star of the North: I'm glad you kept reading, but yes I know, I really do need to update more frequently, but life always seems to get in my way *waves fist at life* I try my hardest to update more frequently, and I'll keep trying, please hang in with the fanfic, I have the next chapter all planned out and it's well on it's way.  
  
Thanks everyone *hands all giant cookie* make sure ya drop in a give a review! See ya's next chapter!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams 


	13. The Keepers of Secrets

Hey guys! Thanks for all my reviews! I hope this chapter was updated quicker then most of the others. Well enjoy!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Chapter 13: The Keepers of Secrets.  
  
Remus sat chewing his nails nervously on his bed in the boy's dorms.  
  
"You don't think he knows?" he asked doubtfully.  
  
"Course he doesn't know! No one knows accept for us and the girls" Sirius flippantly.  
  
"Sirius I'm being serious!"  
  
Sirius grinned and opened his mouth to say something but James cut him off.  
  
"Please, spare us the reply; we've heard it at least a million times"  
  
Remus sat in silent thought for a while before asking hesitantly, "Do you think Lily would've-"  
  
"No" James cut him off abruptly.  
  
"Yeah but you'd say that just to-" Sirius started.  
  
"No I wouldn't"  
  
James said this so seriously and firmly that they knew he was speaking the truth. Remus wouldn't have normally suspected Lily but Hagrid finding the marks and Dumbledore staring at him so intently with those misty blue eyes and then covering for him had made him extremely uneasy.  
  
"Look Rem, he can't know, we've been covering it up so thoroughly not even an Auror could pick it up" Sirius said as he sat down on James' bed across from him.  
  
"With exception of the marks" James added, "And somehow I don't think we'll be using them again"  
  
Remus hesitated, and then replied desperately, "But what if he does know!"  
  
There was no need to discuss why he felt so guilty. They all new that if Dumbledore found that they were animagi, and that they roamed around with Remus at full moon, that their friend would never forgive himself. Remus had expressed his feelings to them when they came up with the idea of becoming animagi in the first place; he felt he was betraying Dumbledore's trust.  
  
"Well if he knows about us there's not much we can do now, is there?" James said heavily.  
  
Sirius sighed and drummed his fingers on the bed post. Remus jumped as he heard the tapping and his eyes immediately snapped towards the door, as if expecting Dumbledore to stride through it and tell him to pack his things and leave straight away.  
  
Sirius saw his friends' edgy behavior and decided that this definitely wasn't the time to tell him that he had seen Snape staring at him with a look that suggested he had just won a Triwizard tournament when Hagrid had announced his findings.  
  
"Look, like Prongs said, we can't do anything about it now, if he knows, he knows" Sirius said reasonably, "Let's go and get the girls and do something; get your mind off it for a while"  
  
Remus looked at him grimly but as his friend cracked a trade marked marauder grin and exclaimed that there was no one else anyone would rather be with then him, Remus had to smile and obliged.  
  
Ten minutes later found James and Remus sitting in the common room, watching Sirius' failed attempts at trying to get the girls' attention by yelling up the dormitory stairs.  
  
"IO ANNIE!!" he shouted, even with a sonorous charm on, but not one voice yelled back.  
  
"Merlin, they must be deaf" James stated.  
  
"Deaf or deafened" Remus said dryly, sticking his fingers in his ears as Sirius opened his mouth to yell again.  
  
Sirius finally gave up, slumping into an armchair next to James.  
  
"Looks like the chicks are going to have to miss this one as they seem to be deaf and slash or dumb" Sirius said, "Boys night out, what do you say?"  
  
"Aye!" both chorused, but as they did so, a curious face swept around the edge of the girls stairs.  
  
"You calling me?" Annie asked. Her black hair was wet and her face rather red.  
  
"Yeah, took you bloody long enough!" Sirius exclaimed, rising from his seat.  
  
Andromeda rolled her eyes.  
  
"We were having showers; we never would have heard you over the water"  
  
"Then you must be showering in a monsoon because I had a sonorous charm on and was shouting" Sirius said stiffly.  
  
"Maybe you just don't shower properly Sirius; girls care a lot more about their appearance then boys"  
  
At this, Andromeda actually stared pointedly at James' hair.  
  
James unconsciously ruffled it.  
  
"What! I can't help it, it's naturally like that!"  
  
Sirius spluttered.  
  
"I take a lot of care in my appearance thank you very much!"  
  
"Yeah, we know, that's clearly expressed by how long you take in the bathroom of a morning" Remus said amusedly, and then added, "Looking at yourself in the mirror"  
  
Andromeda snorted.  
  
"What? Now I'm not manly enough hey?!" Sirius exclaimed, "Anything else you want to criticize me about or can I actually say what I yelled for you for the last half hour for?"  
  
Andromeda smiled and replied in a sickly sweet voice.  
  
"Yes, you may"  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes.  
  
"I have a proposition"  
  
"Does it involve you giving me money?"  
  
"No"  
  
"Oh, ok then, bye!"  
  
"Annie!"  
  
Andromeda smirked playfully, and then sighed, as if he was ruining all her fun.  
  
"Alright then, what is it?"  
  
"Because of recent events we need to liven some things up around here" he said evenly, "You wanna play a game?"  
  
Andromeda eyed him suspiciously.  
  
"And what sort of game would that be?"  
  
"Don't look at me like that! I'm only suggesting!" Sirius said defensively as Andromeda's piercing gaze bored into him.  
  
"Oh yes, but I know very well what some of your 'games' turn out like"  
  
Sirius grinned, "Like the time when we played hide and seek and I locked Bella into the cupboard"  
  
Andromeda smirked, "Serves her right for being so gullible"  
  
"So, you going to play or not?"  
  
"I guess so" she shrugged, "but with one condition"  
  
"What's that?"  
  
"Absolutely no spin the bottle"  
  
"But that's one of my favourites!"  
  
"I know, but imagine if it fell on you and me"  
  
Sirius made a face that was a cross between utter horror and gruesome.  
  
"Point taken" he said quickly.  
  
"Well I'll go and get the others" she said turning her head around the wall, "But you'll have to wait a few"  
  
"Awe, why?" Sirius said, pouting impatiently and sticking out his bottom lip.  
  
"Because we have our pajama's on and need to change"  
  
All the boys rolled their eyes.  
  
"I think you've seen us in our pj's at least a million times now Annie"  
  
"Yes well, I don't really care but I know Lily and Miria will, plus, it won't take that long"  
  
"With woman, it always does" James stated.  
  
"Well I'm sorry but you don't know what it's like to have to shave your legs, wax or pluck your eyebrows, file your nails, comb your hair, try and keep reasonably skinny, put on makeup and put up with a certain something every month just so we can look pretty for you, and then what do we get back? Complaining!" by this time she was staring James right in the face, only an inch away from his nose. She jammed her finger hard into his chest.  
  
"You wouldn't last one hour as a girl"  
  
However, it was hard for James to take Andromeda seriously as what she was wearing was quite humorous.  
  
Her hair was in a black frizz, falling over her pink duck flannelette pajama's and on her feat stuck two, purple bunny slippers.  
  
James couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst out laughing right in Andromeda's face, who looked down at her bunny slippers immediately and blushed.  
  
"You know Annie, your beginning to sound like a feminist" Remus stated as he too spread an amused smile.  
  
Andromeda scowled.  
  
"I don't know why I even bother" she said haughtily, ignoring her burning cheeks, "You three will never understand the woman race" and with that, she marched back up the stairs in a way that reminded them all horribly of Lily and called over her shoulder.  
  
"We'll be out when we are. You can wait until then"  
  
~*~  
  
Exactly one hour and thirteen minutes later the group Gryffindor sixth years were sitting in a circle in front of the crackling warm fire in the common room.  
  
"Finally" Sirius sighed.  
  
Andromeda gave him a stern look and he just stared back.  
  
"Feminist" he whispered so just she could hear.  
  
Andromeda raised her eyebrows and shrugged him off.  
  
"So, what do you want to do?" Miria asked.  
  
"Well I was thinking-"  
  
"No!" James and Remus cut him off.  
  
"Come on guys, I just want to-"  
  
"No!"  
  
"But there's this really fun game and-"  
  
"No!"  
  
Sirius huffed and slumped down into his armchair.  
  
"You never let me pick the game"  
  
"And for a very good reason" Remus replied.  
  
"All of your 'games' end in disaster" James tagged on.  
  
"That's not true!" Sirius defended.  
  
"What about the time when we played hide and go seek and Peter was in and-"  
  
"He ran straight into a whole bunch of conspiring Slytherins because you told him I was hiding near their common room" James finished Sirius' sentence.  
  
"Oh yeah" Sirius said, smiling at the memory.  
  
"And let's not forget that he got cursed to America and back for supposedly 'spying'"  
  
"Heh" Sirius said weakly, "Oops!"  
  
Remus rolled his eyes.  
  
"Hence the reason why your not picking the game" he finished and then turned to the three girls sitting in front of him.  
  
"So, you got any ideas?"  
  
Miria hesitated for a moment, and then replied.  
  
"What about that Secret Keepers game?"  
  
"Oh yeah, I've played that before" Andromeda said.  
  
Sirius smirked, "So have I"  
  
At this he looked over at Remus who looked reluctantly back at him.  
  
James laughed, "Come on Padfoot, stop having sour grapes, just because you can't tell anyone it"  
  
"Yes, but think of the bribery I could hold against him!" Sirius said exasperatedly.  
  
"Well too bad, you can't" Remus said smugly.  
  
"So how does this game work?" Lily asked; a little embarrassed that she was, once again, one of the only muggle borns there. It didn't usually show that she was a muggle born since she learned so much, but there was only so much you could learn from books.  
  
"Well what happens is" Miria started, "You go around the circle and everyone tells a secret about themselves that no one in the circle knows"  
  
"And then, say, Miria goes first, and she tells a secret that, say, you know, and because she told a secret that you already know, she doesn't get to listen to your secret that you tell everyone about yourself" Andromeda explained.  
  
"But there's a catch" Remus stated.  
  
"Yes. When everyone is done telling their secret, they have to perform a secret keeping charm on themselves so they can't tell anyone else any of the other people who were in the circle's secrets" Miria kept going.  
  
"It's a lot like the fidelius charm, the one they do on Secret Keepers, except a lot simpler" James said.  
  
Lily nodded, if anyone knew charms better then her, she'd be damned.  
  
"Hence the reason why it's called the Secret Keepers game!" Sirius finished with a flourish.  
  
"So, who's in?" James asked.  
  
"Me!" Sirius said immediately.  
  
"I am" Remus agreed with a devilish smile that would shock any of his professors.  
  
"Yep" Miria and Andromeda chimed.  
  
Lily looked at them hesitantly for a moment and then sighed.  
  
"What the hell am I getting myself into" she muttered.  
  
James just grinned.  
  
"Great! Who's going first?"  
  
"All in favor of making Lily go first say Aye" Sirius said.  
  
"Aye!" they all chorused.  
  
"Hey! Why me?"  
  
"Because you're the most attractive" James replied promptly.  
  
"Well thanks" Andromeda, Miria, and Sirius said in unison.  
  
Remus snorted.  
  
"Somehow Padfoot, I don't think Prongs is going to find you attractive"  
  
"Everyone's attracted to me; it's my handsome, boyishly good looks, tall, dark-"  
  
"Oh please!" Andromeda exclaimed, disgusted.  
  
"Get on with the game"  
  
"Alright then!" Sirius said enthusiastically, "tell us your secret Lily- flower"  
  
Lily raised her eyebrows at Sirius' apparent 'nick name' but none the less held her tongue and chose to ignore it.  
  
"OK. . .something that no one here knows. . ." she murmured to herself.  
  
Lily brightened after a moment as she thought of her secret.  
  
"Ok, I've got it" she stated happily, "But you're sure these charms at the end work?"  
  
"Yep! You can perform them if you want" Sirius said.  
  
"And how can I be sure that you don't know a charm that counter-curses it?" she asked, eying the three marauders slyly.  
  
"Well here, I'll try and tell you the secret that Remus told me of his last time I played"  
  
Sirius opened his mouth to utter the words but only managed to get out "When Remus was five he-" before he cut short and his mouth snapped shut for several moments. Only when Remus lifted the spell put on his closed lips could he speak again.  
  
"So there you have it!" he said, as if declaring the end to some spectacular quidditch game.  
  
"Ok then" Lily said, obviously satisfied.  
  
She then proceeded to hitch up her shirt a little and James' eyes grew big.  
  
"That's what I'm talking about!"  
  
"Sod off you pervert!" she snapped.  
  
Lily pulled her shirt up just higher then her belly button and whispered a charm whilst waving her wand over a small spot on her skin.  
  
The others looked on curiously as on her stomach appeared a small, coloured picture.  
  
"I have a tattoo" she said simply as everyone took in the small, curly words encircled by scattered starts on her stomach.  
  
"I only got it just last summer holidays, you can get them the muggle way, but if you drop into Diagon Alley I found one and they put a concealing charm on it for me; my mum would go off her nutter if she found out"  
  
"Sorry I couldn't tell you" she gave an apologetic look to Miria, "but you know how nosy Petunia is"  
  
Miria just waved it away; she was much more intrigued by the unfamiliar words printed on her friends' stomach.  
  
"Magie, Èternelle" she said out loud.  
  
"It's French" Lily confirmed.  
  
Sirius smirked from across the circle.  
  
"It's a bit corny" he commented.  
  
Lily's eyes widened in horror.  
  
"You can read it?!"  
  
"Course I can, 'Tojours Pur' Evans, I've known French since I was five"  
  
Andromeda snorted.  
  
"It's been a while since I've heard that phrase"  
  
"Always Pure" James muttered.  
  
Miria looked on questioningly.  
  
"Black family motto" Andromeda explained, "And I think it's rather nice" she said, gesturing to Lily's tattoo.  
  
"You can read it too?"  
  
"All the Blacks speak French, it's part of the family tradition" Sirius said.  
  
"And here I was thinking that the only talent Sirius Black held was snogging"  
  
"Nah, he's better at seducing, aren't you Padfoot? I'm the number one snogger" James said playfully.  
  
"Look on the bright side, Potter, not everyone hates you as much as I do" Lily said lightly.  
  
"Ha! You've been had Prongs!" Sirius exclaimed, clapping a disgruntled looking James on the back.  
  
"Sirius shut up and tell us what it says!" Remus said impatiently.  
  
Sirius puffed out his chest importantly, and much to Lily's annoyance, proceeded to tell them all what the French script said.  
  
"Eternal Magic"  
  
James burst out laughing and Lily fixed him with a scowl.  
  
"Well just be thankful I don't print it on your skin!"  
  
"Don't worry Lily, they don't know what deeper meaning is" Andromeda said snootily.  
  
Remus smirked, but knowing that he'd end up, once again, having to declare peace, decided to move along.  
  
"Ok, your turn Miria"  
  
Miria chewed her fingernails nervously.  
  
"Can somebody else go?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Nope! It goes in the circle!" Sirius said mercilessly.  
  
"Oh fine" Miria huffed.  
  
"You know when we went on that excursion over night to Burkleys Wizarding museum in third year?"  
  
Everyone nodded except for Andromeda and Lily, who scowled. She had been wanting to go to that museum for ages, but just her luck, the day before the trip she came down with the flu and had to spend all day in bed in the hospital wing.  
  
"All of the sixth year girls were playing exploding snap as a knock out competition, and at the end it was only Emily Honork and I left, and we made a deal that whoever lost had to go skinny dipping in the lake out the front of the dorms"  
  
At this point Miria turned a bright crimson red.  
  
"I lost" she managed to get out.  
  
James, Sirius and Remus burst out laughing and Andromeda toppled over in a fit of giggles. Lily tried unsuccessfully to smother her bubbling laughter but ended out on the ground next to Andromeda.  
  
Miria couldn't help but laugh too; she was used to laughing at her own absurdity.  
  
"You know, Peter did swear he saw a dolphin in there"  
  
"When'd he say that?" Sirius asked while trying to calm his laughter.  
  
"When you and Prongs were trying to find a way to break the wards on the girl's dorms to get in"  
  
"Oh yeah!. . .That never did work you know" James pondered.  
  
"Thank Merlin" Miria muttered.  
  
"How long were you in there?" Andromeda asked amusedly.  
  
"About two seconds, it was bloody freezing I can tell you!"  
  
Andromeda grinned cheekily, and was about to say something witty when Miria cut her off.  
  
"No, uh-uh, no repercussions, it's your turn"  
  
Andromeda snapped her mouth shut, but couldn't help smiling all the same.  
  
"Alright, my secret is. . .well you know, it's not really a secret, but none of you guys should know it anyway"  
  
She lifted her pajama top up to reveal a sapphire stud in her navel.  
  
"I have a belly button ring"  
  
James yelled in triumph.  
  
"Hah! I knew!"  
  
"Wha- how?"  
  
James smiled evilly.  
  
"Prongs that smile is none too re-assuring" Sirius said cautiously.  
  
"Let's just say after we won our game against Ravenclaw Ian thought it would be uh. . .amusing, to change the boys and girls change room signs around so Annie marched into our side of the change rooms with her underwear on"  
  
Andromeda hid her face in her hands to keep them from seeing how it resembled a very ripe tomato.  
  
"This isn't happening" she muttered.  
  
"I was forgetting about that thank you very much!" she then said lifting her hands from her burning face.  
  
"How could you forget a group of male Quidditch players whistling you out of their change room?!" James asked disbelievingly.  
  
"Well I can damn well try!" Andromeda snapped.  
  
Sirius whistled, "I feel sorry for Ian"  
  
Andromeda's eyes suddenly glittered evilly.  
  
"He's gonna get it when he gets back, thank you James, now I know who to blame it on"  
  
"Well I might as well go" James said keenly, "Since Andromeda 'aint aloud to hear mine" he flashed her a false grin.  
  
Andromeda rolled her eyes, "Whatever"  
  
"Great!" Sirius exclaimed, and with one swift movement of his wand and an exclaimed "Elcelio!" Andromeda straightened considerably.  
  
"Sirius!" she exclaimed. But, clapped her hands to her ears and huffed moodily, realizing what spell he had put on her.  
  
"Did it work?" Sirius asked, "CAN YOU HEAR ME?" he asked, screaming in her ear.  
  
Andromeda pushed him away with one quick shove and rolled her eyes.  
  
"I think that's a no" Lily affirmed seriously and then turned to James, eager to witness his secret. . .pity she couldn't use it for bribery.  
  
But by now, all glee had faded from his eyes and he was looking. . .nervous?! She thought incredulously. No, James Potter couldn't be. . .nervous! Heck! That name and word would never be used in the same paragraph! But before she could be sure he had put on his poker face and all trace of emotion was gone as he gulped and told his secret.  
  
"Well umm. . .you know how I always do extra Quidditch practice?" he asked.  
  
They all nodded. He had been since first year.  
  
"Well err. . .that's a lie"  
  
Blank looks surrounded him, all except for Andromeda who was staring intently, attempting lip read but failing horribly.  
  
"That extra hour every afternoon I'm in the library"  
  
Sirius and Lily's jaws dropped, Miria eyes nearly bulged out of her head, but Remus' blank looked turned into a wicked smile.  
  
James looked over at him dreading his reaction.  
  
"No repercussions?" he asked hopefully.  
  
"No way!" Remus exclaimed, "Do you know how many times you've ripped me off about 'devouring books as if they were food'?"  
  
"Yes, I think I might have a smidgen of an idea" he said, shrinking under Remus' stare.  
  
Lily spluttered.  
  
"You mean you- he just- books? Potter!. . .that's just wrong!"  
  
"Oh, well how do you think I know all that crap to pass History of Magic?!"  
  
"I thought you copied off Remus!" she defied.  
  
"No, no that would be Peter" Remus pointed out.  
  
Lily rounded on Sirius.  
  
"You don't too, do you? I think I'll have a heart attack if you say you do as well!" she stated.  
  
"Hell no!" he exclaimed, "I haven't been in the library since I blew up the Q section!"  
  
"Then how do you know all that stuff?" Miria asked.  
  
"I'm naturally talented" Sirius said pompously, "Unlike Prongsy here" he added for good measure.  
  
"I mightn't be able to tell anyone but you'll sure as hell never live this down" Remus whispered into James' ear and the marauder groaned.  
  
"Please, get on with the next person before I get buried in hypocrisy" he said, taking the charm off Andromeda.  
  
"Finally" she breathed.  
  
Remus was still smiling evilly even though it was his turn, and he couldn't let his secret dampen his spirit as he spoke evenly.  
  
"I failed the yearly potions test last year"  
  
Sirius jumped up and ran over to the window to look out.  
  
"It must be storming, howling, or raining hippogriffs or something!" he exclaimed, "Remus Lupin failed?!" he asked disbelievingly.  
  
"Well I don't blame you" Andromeda said, "That test was near impossible"  
  
"Wait!" James said, amusement once more arising onto his features, "That means that Peter got better marks then you!"  
  
"Oh the world's coming to an end!" Sirius exclaimed melodramatically.  
  
Lily rolled her eyes.  
  
"Since you so intent ripping off others Sirius, why don't you tell us your secret" Lily asked innocently.  
  
Sirius finally sat down, draping his arm around Lily's shoulders.  
  
"Well you see Lily-flower"  
  
Lily scowled.  
  
"I don't have any secrets, I'm a, let's say. . .open book" at this point he looked cheekily at James, who just sighed and shook his head.  
  
Lily picked up his arm with her fingers as if it was some dangerous creature and threw it off her shoulders.  
  
"Well too bad, you'll just have to think of something" she said.  
  
"Alright then. . .there could be something" he said doubtfully.  
  
"How about the time when I turned the fat lady's dress black?"  
  
"Nah, heard that one" James said, he knew this would take a while, Sirius hardly ever kept secrets, he was too loud to keep them, and the marauders were as close as brothers, only trivial things they would keep from each other.  
  
"What about the time when Snape-"  
  
"No"  
  
"Or when I stood up to Professor-"  
  
"Nup"  
  
"How about the time when we got drunk and-"  
  
"Which one?" Remus asked.  
  
"When Prongs kissed the bar tender"  
  
"Nope"  
  
"Hey! I don't remember that!" James exclaimed.  
  
"That's because you were drunk"  
  
"Oh"  
  
"How come you never get hung over?" James asked them both.  
  
"Cos I can keep down my liquor" Sirius replied proudly, as if this was something to have won a Nobel Prize for.  
  
"And because I, unlike you, don't drink more then I can handle; it majorly kills your brain cells" Remus stated.  
  
"Except for that time after last years exams, when you couldn't stop throwing up cos we mixed fire whisky in with you butterbeer" Sirius said, amused.  
  
Remus laughed at the memory, "Yeah, forgot about that!"  
  
"You're all sick" Lily affirmed.  
  
"Yes, that we are, my love!" Sirius said heartedly.  
  
"Sirius, are you sure someone didn't spike your drink at dinner?" Andromeda asked dubiously.  
  
James smirked, but didn't say a word.  
  
"Wait! I've got it!" Sirius finally exclaimed.  
  
He stood up, cleared his throat and waited for silence to follow, just for effect.  
  
"It was I who locked Narcissa behind the library bookcase!" he declared triumphantly.  
  
This statement received a series of blank looks.  
  
"It's ticking, but it aint clicking" Remus commented, looking up at Sirius questioningly.  
  
Suddenly, Andromeda's face lightened, remembering the occurrence, but just as soon it turned it became sinister and her eyes narrowed dangerously.  
  
"Why you little-"  
  
Andromeda lunged at Sirius' feet and Sirius quickly jumped back, a cheeky grin plastered on his face.  
  
"I GOT BLAMED FOR IT!! I HAD TO POLISH THOSE STINKING HOUSE ELFS HEADS FOR MONTHS!! ALL THANKS TO YOU!! YOU PRAT!"  
  
Andromeda chased Sirius around the common room as he bounded over the lounges and tables, throwing random curses over his shoulder.  
  
Not until Remus and James came in and tackled Andromeda to the ground to stop her from nearly killing their fellow marauder did she cease.  
  
Sirius was laughing, joining in with his friends' fun.  
  
Lily and Miria ran over, crying war as they leaped on top of the human pile, determined to stand by their friend.  
  
All chaos broke loose. And from the bottom of the human pile their was a muffled scream:  
  
"NO REPERCUSSIONS!"  
  
~*~  
  
Minerva McGonagall sat in her office, marking her sixth year student's end of term papers. She knew it was a rather dull thing to be doing at eleven thirty on Christmas night, well, at least in others point of view, but she, on the other hand, enjoyed it very much. She was actually feeling rather content, so much so that when she came across young Peter Pettigrews paper and amusedly recognized one of her top students' handwriting on it (Remus Lupin to be exact) she merely gave him a fifty percent mark instead of a fail.  
  
She had deliberately left Sirius Black, James Potter and Remus Lupin's papers till last, as she always liked to go to bed on a good note, and she knew their papers, as always, would rank the top marks, and despite herself, she was feeling quite generous that night, so, Minerva McGonagall, for the first time in Merlin only knows how long, gave them all full marks.  
  
However, the cheer didn't last too long, as she realized that she had left her wand in the Gryffindor common room just that afternoon and still hadn't retrieved it.  
  
'What a stupid thing to do Minerva' she thought sharply, 'your age is starting to creep up on you'  
  
She stood and swiftly exited her office, pulling her dressing gown over her pajamas as she went.  
  
What she didn't anticipate was the shock she would receive as she stepped into the common room to find six young bodies strewn out around the fire and laying across the armchairs, sleeping, and in one's case, snoring rather loudly.  
  
Minerva smiled in enjoyment as she realized who the group were and crept over to retrieve her wand from a table in the far corner.  
  
'How unlikely she thought evenly but then again, exactly what I predicted'  
  
'I'll have to see Dumbledore, I'm sure he'll find this all very amusing. . .'  
  
~*~  
  
Done! Ok so I know in the preview last time I said 'And what is Peter's deep, darkest secret, and why the hell did he entrust it with Sirius?!' but I decided to pull that out for certain reasons. Lots of thanks to my reviewers:  
  
James-Padfoot, Queen Catrihara, Kiwi, Agloechen, Emily, Biddet da Pigeon Stalker, AnimeAngel90, Star of the North, Iris and BiG DrEaMeR.  
  
And I'd just like to say that I'm in the process of cleaning up my first couple of chapters as I've taken Trinity Day's constructive criticism into consideration and I know that when I first started to write this fanfic that I spelt a lot of stuff wrong such as Lily's name and that. So those chapters will be going under a redo stage, but don't worry, the story won't change, just the spelling and grammer mistakes. Thanks! Hope to update soon!  
  
~*~Mystical Dreams  
  
Don't forget to thank me! The wonderful beta reader – Lorelai (canyousee) 


	14. The evil schemes of Lily R Evans

-frighteningly pokes her head around computer screen- Ok, so please here me out before you start throwing rotten tomatoes and cabbages my way! I'm REALLY sorry I haven't updated for ages! I know it's been like three months! I've just been so busy, and then I went through this period of writers block, I was nearly kicking myself for the inspiration to write! But don't worry, it's all good now, and I'm right back on track and know exactly what's going to be happening in the next couple of chapters. So please keep reading! You all rock!  
  
Mystical Dreams

* * *

**Chapter 14: The evil schemes of Lily R. Evans**  
  
"The Augurey originates in Britain and Ireland and is a greenish black bird that has a rather sorrowful appearance" Professor Cornfickle said excitedly, pointing to a picture of the bird at the front of the classroom.  
  
"It is very shy, and rather hard to find, that's why I couldn't show you it in its physical state" she stated, her puffy hair bouncing around her glowing face with exaggerated happiness.  
  
It was the second week back at school after the Christmas holidays and the usual student routine had finally sunken back into the castle. Lessons continued as always in their original boring state as the 6th years got drilled about their ever approaching NEWT's the next year.  
  
Lily looked on uninterestingly, for some reason she couldn't concentrate today, and she had already learnt about this creature in third year. This professors enthusiasm was enough to make the students sick thank Merlin she was only a substitute Professor.  
  
Suddenly, an unexpected paper airplane flew over a few of the other students heads to land gracefully on her desk.  
  
Lily looked around nervously to see if anyone had noticed it, but everyone was either staring indifferently at their desks or gazing off into space, so she took the piece of paper and unfolded it carefully, determined not to make too much noise.  
  
She stared down at thick, cursive writing and skimmed over the words quickly.  
  
_Lily.  
  
Come with me to Hogsmeade on the weekend.  
  
James.  
_  
Lily made a derisive noise in the back of her throat and rolled her eyes before reply with a quick _no_ and sending it flying back underneath the rows to the back row where the marauders sat.  
  
James caught the note mid-flight and none too deflated, replied with easy grace, _why not?  
_  
Before he could send the airplane back familiar curly writing started to appear on the paper and James smiled, Lily had put a transferring charm on it, he and Sirius had used that charm on countless occasions when they had been put in separate detentions before they had discovered the two-way mirrors.  
  
_Because you have asked me at least five thousand times now and all those times the answer is no, why would I break the tradition now?  
_  
_So there's no real reason?  
  
Yes! The reason is, Potter, that I have never been attracted to someone as arrogant and egotistical as you and I never will be.  
  
Thank you.  
  
That's nothing to take pride in.  
  
Yes, but obviously you notice it, so it must be a personality worth keeping.  
  
Do you live just to make my life a living hell?  
  
No, I live to make it interesting.  
  
In the future, I suggest for the well being of your next girlfriend that you don't practically use 'you're boring' as a pick up line.  
  
I'm not saying you're boring.  
  
Then what are you saying?  
  
That you would be at a total loss without me.  
  
I'm sure._  
  
James paused before he wrote back, his gleeful grin twisting into a thoughtful expression.  
  
_It would be something different. Come on, you hardly even know me._  
  
_Oh I know you, I've known you since you were eleven and you've always been the same annoying, arrogant git that you are now.  
  
But it would be something spontaneous. Come on Lily, seek some adventure.  
  
I'm perfectly content where I stand thank you.  
  
Don't think I don't know how curious you can be, I saw you at Christmas when we were going through that secret passage, and your eyes were twinkling like mad!  
  
They were not!_  
  
James laughed; he knew he'd caught her.  
  
_Fine, just go as friends?  
_  
Lily stared down at her parchment, dumbfounded. Friends? She thought thunderstruck; James Potter wanted her to be his friend?  
  
_You want us to be friends?_ She replied, but almost kicked herself silly as she did so.  
  
_Well I'd rather be your boyfriend but since you're not so keen on that, we can work on it.  
_  
Lily rolled her eyes and thought for a while. Soon a twisted plan started to form in her head, it was cruel, yes, but since when had James been nice to her?  
  
_Alright. But I'll only go if you can stay out of trouble from a teacher for a whole week.  
_  
James grinned.  
  
_Easy._  
  
_And you cannot get in a fight with Severus Snape.  
  
What?!  
  
That's the condition Potter.  
  
Fine. What's the catch?_  
  
James new there'd be one, with Lily, there was always more then one twist.  
  
_You aren't allowed to tell Remus, Sirius or Peter what's going on, actually, don't tell anyone, it's just between you and me.  
  
Awe, no fare!  
_  
Lily smiled evilly.  
  
_It pays to have the prettiest girl in school.  
  
Pff! And you call me arrogant.  
  
No, I'm just self-assured._  
  
Just at that moment the bell rung and Lily quickly scribbled onto the parchment.  
  
_So it's a deal?  
  
Ok so no getting into trouble from teachers, no telling anyone, and no insulting Snivellus Physically, verbally or emotionally . . . wait! Snivellus . . .that's degrading. Ok, Snape.  
  
Very good!  
  
Alright, it's a deal.  
  
Ok, no fighting, have fun!!  
  
Sure._  
  
"Hey Prongsy, you writing love letters again? I thought you gave up on all that romantic crap" Sirius said teasingly as he slapped James on the back.  
  
James quickly scrunched up the piece of parchment and shoved it in his bag, not bothering to reply to Sirius' remark; he had bigger fish to fry now.  
  
"Come on, let's get to lunch, I'm starving" he said, trying to hurry out of the classroom but just as he placed one foot out the door he heard the exact voice he had hoped not to.  
  
"Mr. Potter may I have a word?" Professor Cornfickle requested.  
  
James cringed. Dammit. Lily was still in the room, he could just imagine her face right now; smirking with delight.  
  
However, James fixed one of his prized charming smiles on his face and swept around to face his Care of Magical Creatures substitute Professor.  
  
"Yes Professor?" he asked innocently (if that's entirely possible)  
  
"I can't seem to find your essay on the Augurey, you did do it? Didn't you?"  
  
"Of course I did Professor," James replied with a completely fake worried frown. "I spent a while on it actually, I thought seeing as I hadn't done too well in the last essay (hadn't attempted) I would make up for it with this one, I found the Augurey to be absolutely fascinating."  
  
At the back of the room an almost inaudible grunt could be heard that then abruptly turned into a hacking cough. Little did Sirius know that James actually did find it fairly interesting. James tried to suppress a smirk.  
  
"Oh James, I am so sorry, I seem to have lost it, did you keep an extra copy of the essay."  
  
"Oh no Mam, I'm sorry I didn't, I mean it was sooooo long. Exactly how long was it Remus?"  
  
Remus seemed to be calculating in his head, a thoughtful expression on his face, "At least ten rolls James, it could have been eleven I'm not entirely sure."  
  
Lily gagged, how gullible was this teacher?  
  
"If you'd like Professor, I could briefly summarize my essay for you and tell you now."  
  
"That would be wonderful James!"  
  
Lily smirked in triumph; there was no way he was going to pull this one off. Sirius gaped at the stupidity of what his friend had just got himself into, and even Peter looked somewhat stunned.  
  
James merely cleared his throat and began without preamble;  
  
"The Augurey also known as the Irish Phoenix is classified by the Ministry of Magic as a grade two creature, meaning that it is relatively harmless and can possibly be domesticated. As you have already mentioned this lesson Professor, the Augurey is a native bird of Britain and Ireland. It appears as a thin and mournful looking bird, somewhat like a small and underfed vulture and is a greenish black. It is a shy bird and generally prefers to keep their own company; it desires to nest in bramble and thorn rather then trees and the more comfortable bushes. Its diet consists of large insects and fairies. It only flying in heavy rain and otherwise remaining hidden in its tear – shaped nest" he said as if reading out of a text book.  
  
"The characteristic that sets this amazing bird apart from all other birds is the distinctive low and throbbing cry, which was once believed to foretell death. In earlier times wizards avoided their nests for fear of hearing that heart – rending sound, and more than one wizard is believed to have suffered a heart attack on passing a thicket and hearing an unseen Augurey wail. This can be compared to the mystery of the Grim, where in recent times such occurrences as the heart failure of a person has had more to do with the superstition than the actual creature"  
  
"One case of this is the legendary occurrence of 'Uric the Oddball' who is known to have slept in a room containing no fewer the fifty pet Augureys. During one particular wet winter, Uric became convinced that he had died, due to the continual wailing of his pets and he then attempted to walk through walls which is said to have led to a concussion of ten days duration"  
  
"However it has been realized that an Augurey merely sings at the approach of rain. One of the more common uses of this bird is a home weather forecaster."  
  
At the end of this speech the whole of the room was plunged into a stunned silence. James looked around taking in the effect he had, had on them and had to hold back a laugh.  
  
"Oh and the feathers are completely useless as quills as they repel ink." He added just for good measure.  
  
Professor Cornfickle simply beamed at him. Clapping her hands in delight as her face burst into an enormous smile.  
  
"That has to be the best oral explanation of any animal that I have ever heard! One hundred and twenty percent and thirty points to Gryffindor!"  
  
James bowed extravagantly as Peter spurted red roses (or what were supposed to be red roses) from his wand to land at his fellow marauders feet.  
  
Lily gaped openly at him as Sirius' expression bordered between open disgust and utter bewilderment.  
  
"How did he- did you just?- what tha?!" Lily spluttered.  
  
Sirius shook his head and sat down in a chair.  
  
"This is too much. I can't handle this"  
  
Remus just laughed as James declared that it was his pleasure and walked over to Lily to lightly shove her jaw back into place.  
  
"Honestly Evans, didn't your mother ever teach you manners" he scolded, "I know I'm good looking but you don't have to gawk"  
  
He then proceeded to walk out the door with no more further ado.  
  
The marauders and Lily ran to catch up to him, Lily fuming.  
  
"Why-I can't believe-you're such an insolent pig!" she managed to splutter.  
  
"Yes, but an intelligent insolent pig" he said evenly.  
  
Sirius had by now, overcome his sense of shock and slapped James on the back.  
  
"Mate, I didn't think you'd pull that off, but that's one of the best marauder stunts in history!"  
  
James beamed as he mussed up his hair.  
  
As they walked into the great hall Lily swiftly turned around to meet James in the eye.  
  
"I'm sure you thought that was spectacular" she sniffed, "but just wait Potter, there'll be plenty more Professors this week, and don't forget about your greasy haired friend. . ." she said smiling.  
  
James smirked, "I'm up for a fight"  
  
Lily winked at him and turned around to walk over to a beckoning Miria sitting at the Gryffindor table.  
  
"You know, she's a little scary" Peter commented.  
  
"A little loony more like it" Sirius stated.  
  
The four of them walked over to the table and sat down next to Ian and Marcus to discuss James' new tremendous bluff.  
  
Remus walked down the unusually quiet halls of Hogwarts with a new-found book clutched in his fingers as if some rare golden treasure. It was dinnertime, and rightfully speaking he was supposed to be sitting at the Gryffindor table, eating with his fellow housemates, but something strange had crossed his mind as he sat, bored to death in Professor Binns' History of magic class; an idea of some sought.  
  
Ever since the incident at Christmas dinner, he had been on a bit of an edge about the marauders' explorations at full moon, and even though it had been over a couple of weeks since, and the headmaster hadn't mentioned anything, Remus still thought he needed to do something about their monthly escapades invisibility wise. And that was what he had the book for, _'Ploogun's book of disguisable disguises'_.  
  
Remus didn't feel very hungry (which was a rare occasion since feeding a werewolf was never any mean feat) so he decided to detour and take the long route to the common room just to ponder on things for a while; something he generally did a lot.  
  
As Remus walked into the common room a half hour later he was jerked out of his reverie abruptly as an all too familiar voice shouted gleefully at the top of their lungs.  
  
"BULLSHIT!!"  
  
Sirius was sitting in a tight circle of first years with James and Peter by his side and a deal of cards in his hand, looking positively evil.  
  
A disgruntled looking first year boy picked up the stack of cards currently placed in the middle of the circle and glared at him.  
  
Remus shook his head, but couldn't help smiling at his friends' childish pleasure. 'Bullshit' was one of the marauders' favourite card games to teach the new first years, as the fowl language was sure to drive McGonagall up the wall.  
  
James' poker face was completely impassive as his turn came around and he clearly announced that he had three kings.  
  
Remus snuck up behind him and glimpsed at the actual three of spades, five of hearts and Jack he was about to put down on the new pile and mouthed bullshit behind his friends back so the other players could see.  
  
"Bullshit!" and excited looking blond girl squeaked and James' mask fell abruptly to reveal a face of utter surprise; he'd never been caught at this game before.  
  
"What? How did you-?"  
  
He immediately span around to find Remus placing his bag on one of the lounges, his backed turned to him.  
  
"Moony you can be extremely Slytherin-ish at times, did you know that?" he said slyly.  
  
"One of my hidden talents" Remus replied simply.  
  
"I need to talk to you guys when you're done" he added.  
  
Sirius quickly whipped up the cards into a stack with his wand and turned around to face him.  
  
"We're done" he chimed.  
  
The first years whined their complaint.  
  
"Oh my! I think I just saw Professor McGonagall!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
All the first years fled from the circle they were sitting in and over to separate places in the common room, afraid their head of house would give them all detentions again.  
  
Sirius chuckled, "Ahhh, the simple pleasures in life"  
  
"What'd you do that for? I was almost winning!" Peter complained.  
  
"And I _was_ winning" James put in.  
  
"Exactly my point" Sirius stated. "Now, Moony, what's this important news? You definitely took you time in the library"  
  
"We had better go up to the dorm, just to be safe" Remus said as he looked around at the now quietly working students.  
  
They followed him up the stairs and into their messy room.  
  
Remus sat on a pile of his clean robes as the other flopped down near him.  
  
All eyes focused on Remus as he picked up _'Ploogun's book of disguisable disguises'_.  
  
"Well I've been thinking. . ." he started.  
  
"Wow! That's not normal for you!" Peter commented.  
  
James and Sirius smirked, but Remus ignored his friends reply and started explaining.  
  
"I was thinking, that maybe we should be a bit more inconspicuous when we go wandering around at full moon, I mean, I know you guys use the invisibility cloak when you follow me out to the whomping willow" he said, "But we're all galloping around as animals on the grounds with only the darkness to cover for us when we transform, and even then, the full moon's pretty bright"  
  
"Mmm, so what you got in mind?" James asked.  
  
Remus flipped through the book until he came to a page with pictures of a moving witch turning invisible.  
  
"The Disillusionment charm" he said as he showed them all the page.  
  
"It kind of works like a chameleon" he explained. "Once the spell's performed you take the colour of the background you're standing in front of"  
  
"Ok, but how are we all supposed to do the charm on each other when we're animals?" Sirius asked, "I mean, James could do it on me when I'm a dog and then on Pete, but how's he gonna do it on himself as a stag?"  
  
"Well that's what we need to see; if you can do it to yourselves and then turn into animals and see if it still works"  
  
"Right" James said, "Shall we try it then?"  
  
"Somebody else can do mine" Peter piped up, "I don't trust myself"  
  
"Wise thinking Wormtail" Sirius congratulated.  
  
Remus took out his wand and his friends followed suit.  
  
"It says its easier to do the spell on yourself" he said as his eyes skimmed the page, "There should be no harm in trying it Pete, we'll put you back if it gets mixed up" he said, looking over at his shorter friend.  
  
Peter looked edgily over at Sirius, remembering the time his mistake had been used against him as bribery. But his fellow marauder looked like he had his mind on other things, so he took out his wand and nervously waited for Remus to continue.  
  
"Well this spell doesn't seem to need words, you just have to tap your wand on your head and imagine that your body is slowly becoming numb and that each limb is experiencing a trickling feeling, like water being run over it" Remus clarified.  
  
"Sounds simple" Sirius remarked.  
  
"It's a bit like what we had to do to become animagi" commented James.  
  
"Well, let's try it" Remus proposed.  
  
All four boys rapped their wands on the top of their heads and closed their eyes in concentration as they tried to imagine their limbs becoming water-like.  
  
One by one they all disappeared into the messy contents of their room.  
  
"I did it!" Peter exclaimed.  
  
"This is weird" Sirius whistled.  
  
"It's nothing like being under my invisibility cloak"  
  
"Ouch! That was my foot!"  
  
"Sorry Remus, it's worse when I can't see where I am let alone where you are" Peter pouted.  
  
"When I look really close I can see your bulky outline" Sirius joked.  
  
"Hey! That's not nice! I'm a healthy size"  
  
"So I'm unhealthy, that's not nice" Sirius retorted.  
  
"Unhealthy in the brain" Remus muttered as he approached the book again. Unfortunately, James was heading the same way, and they both collided head first.  
  
"Holy shit!"  
  
"What tha?"  
  
"James watch where you're going!"  
  
"I am! I can't see at the best of times, and it doesn't help when you're a human chameleon!"  
  
James fumbled around on the ground for his circular glasses that had fallen off of his nose.  
  
Just at that moment Sirius stepped forward and there was a sickly crunch and snap that sounded very much like the breaking of glass.  
  
"Uh-oh"  
  
"Oh great!"  
  
"Sirius, did I ever tell you that you're a prat?" James asked cynically.  
  
"Yes, I believe you've mentioned that once or twice"  
  
"Good because I'm going to tell you again- you're-"  
  
"Oh both of you shut it, and let me figure out how to turn us back"  
  
"And in the meantime I'll just sit around as blind as a bat" James sulked.  
  
"You do that" Sirius mumbled.  
  
"I will!"  
  
"Ok!"  
  
"Honestly! Will you two quit it!"  
  
"Sorry Moony-pie, we didn't mean to get you upset" Sirius cooed.  
  
"Oh please, spare me" Remus replied darkly, reading over the second paragraph again.  
  
"Ok, so to turn back we have to tap ourselves on the head again and imagine the cold feeling exiting from our limbs, but before you do that, I want to see if it works in animagi form" Remus pondered.  
  
"Ok!" Sirius exclaimed, and with no further-ado, morphed into a large black dog.  
  
A bark rang through the dorm as he bounded about.  
  
"Well I can't see him too well" Peter said.  
  
"Neither can I" Remus affirmed, "Great! It looks like it works"  
  
"Just to make sure, James, how about you try?"  
  
"Whatever" James grumbled.  
  
He did so, and like Sirius, still no one could see him.  
  
"Sweet! Alright, you can turn back now" Remus called, and proceeded to become visible again.  
  
The others took his lead and after a moment all were clearly visible again, except for James' eyesight.  
  
"Where the hell are my glasses?"  
  
Remus picked them up from where they lay on the ground, murmuring a quick repairo charm, and gave them back to his friend in one piece.  
  
James quickly shoved them back on his face, muttering about not being able to find a clear eyesight charm.  
  
"Ok, so do you think it'll work?" Remus asked.  
  
"One problem" James pointed out, "How exactly are we going to do this charm on you?"  
  
"Well I was thinking about that too, and I don't think it's a good idea to do it on me at all, since, if I sort of go crazy I need you guys to keep me in line and if you can't see me properly, then you won't be able to do that"  
  
"Well how are we going to see each other?" Peter inquired, pointing towards himself, Sirius and James.  
  
"Your not totally invisible with the charm on, you can still see a persons outline if you look for it, but yes, it will be hard to see and that's why I've been thinking of tagging you all"  
  
"Tagging, that doesn't sound good" Sirius said uneasily.  
  
"It's a charm" Remus explained, "It allows you to see one another when no one else can. I mean, I've heard of it, but I need to look into it a bit more so we can get the details about what to do"  
  
"Ok then, but it better not be like that stupid conjourus charm you put on us last year, I couldn't blink for a week after that!" Sirius said irritably.  
  
"Heh, sorry"  
  
"So when is next full moon?" James asked.  
  
"One week and three days. In other words, three days after Hogsmeade trip"  
  
"Ok"  
  
"So I'll look into that tagging charm and we can talk about it next meeting" Remus continued.  
  
They all nodded and the room fell oddly silent.  
  
"Merlin! I just had a revelation!" Sirius exclaimed.  
  
Peter jumped at his friends' sudden outburst.  
  
"Here we go" Remus muttered.  
  
"You know how Lily said I could get up the stairs to the girls dorm's that night because I had pure intentions?"  
  
They all nodded their understanding.  
  
"And you know how many of the girls have cats that go up and down those dorm stairs?"  
  
"Yeah, but what-?" Peter started.  
  
"Padfoot your brilliant!" James exclaimed, "Pure genius!"  
  
Sirius swept into a bow, his grey eyes twinkling with mischief.  
  
Remus, however, looked on perplexedly.  
  
"What does that have to do with cats?"  
  
"The cats aren't just any cats Moony, some of them are male"  
  
"So?" Peter questioned.  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes as if what he was about to explain was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
"They're male cats; I can turn into a male dog, they don't get chucked down the stairs; I won't get chucked down the stairs, and finally, with the help of this new charm, they won't see me, but I'll see them"  
  
"Oh no Sirius, no way!" Remus said sternly.  
  
Sirius just grinned at his fellow marauder.  
  
"Come on Rem, Prongs and I have been trying to work this out for years" Sirius pleaded.  
  
"No Sirius" Remus said firmly, "I'm a prefect, I can't let you do it"  
  
James rolled his eyes.  
  
"That never stopped you any other time"  
  
"Yeah, but every other time I knew you'd never get in, plus, the girls deserve their privacy" he justified.  
  
"And you think we don't? They can walk on up here whenever they want!" Sirius retorted.  
  
"Oh come off it! If any girl walked up here while you were having a shower or getting changed you'd welcome them in with open arms!"  
  
Sirius opened his mouth to defend himself but shut it again, thinking pointedly over what Remus had said.  
  
"Well yeah, but that's beside the point!"  
  
Remus stared daggers at his friend as Sirius crossed his arms stubbornly.  
  
"You're not going to stop me"  
  
"Oh really?" Remus replied slyly, and with one quick movement, whipped out his wand, but before he could utter a spell Sirius was already fading into his surroundings.  
  
Remus cursed under his breath and stood flat against the door, hoping to prevent the marauder from leaving, but a quick spell from James left the door- and Remus- swinging backwards into the hallway.  
  
Sirius leapt over Remus, cackling evilly as he retreated down the stairs.  
  
James quickly followed after him, but just as he was stepping over his fellow marauder, Remus grabbed him by the ankles, dragging him to the ground in front of him.  
  
James moaned as he landed face first into the carpet.  
  
Remus jumped to his feet and yanked him back into the dorm, snatching up his wand and locking the door.  
  
James, recognizing defeat, slumped onto his bed with a sour face.  
  
"Moony, I think you just created a disaster by teacher him that spell" Peter declared.  
  
Remus ran a tired hand over his brow.  
  
"Me too" he replied, exhausted.  
  
James growled grumpily at them both.  
  
"Remus, did I ever tell you that you're a prat?"  
  
Meanwhile, Sirius was padding up the girls dormitory stairs, completely cheerful with himself.  
  
The first place he headed was towards the sound of running water. His eyes nearly bulging out of his head, he was just about to place one paw over the threshold when someone bumped into him. He automatically backed away, looking up at the person who towered above him; the very person he wanted to see the least of; Lily Evans.  
  
Lily whipped around, her scarlet dressing gown draping over his back.  
  
"What the hell?" she murmured absently.  
  
She grabbed at him before he could back away further and held onto his fur tight. Then, with a bewildered look upon her features, she pulled out her wand, and muttered a revealing charm.  
  
Immediately Sirius felt the Disillusionment charm fall away and Lily shrieked in surprise as the black dog appeared in front of her, however, she didn't let go, instead, she dragged the struggling dog towards her dorm, shutting the door behind her.  
  
Sirius turned around to find Miria standing in bright blue underwear in front of him. His eyes nearly bulged out of his head as she jumped ten feet at the sight of him.  
  
"Dear God Lily! What the hell is a dog doing in here?!"  
  
"I don't know, it had some sought of invisibility charm on it, it was hanging around the bathroom"  
  
Suddenly something clicked within her mind and she looked down at Sirius' most obvious features; black hair and grey eyes.  
  
Sirius struggled to prize himself free of her firm grip but couldn't manage to, and instead, looked up at her pleadingly, but the only look he received back was one of utter loathing. This wasn't good.  
  
Lily then looked back up at her friend, still in her underwear, and yanked the dog around so he couldn't see her.  
  
"Miria you might want to put some clothes on, we have a pervert in the room" she said acidly.  
  
"What? What are you going on about?" She asked perplexedly.  
  
Lily pointed towards the dog. "This is our dear friend Sirius Black, remember, he's animagi"  
  
A dawning look of horror spread over Miria's face and she quickly shoved on the bathrobe hanging over her bed.  
  
Miria walked over to him, her mind ticking over how he managed to get up here.  
  
"Alright Black, here's the deal, you transform or we'll both blast you into oblivion" Lily said as she stuck out her wand so it pointed right between his eyes.  
  
Miria did the same, her normally happy features angrily staring.  
  
Sirius, knowing that Lily would surely stick to her word, reluctantly transformed. He quickly reached for the door handle, pulling out his wand with his other hand, but before he could turn the knob Lily had shoved him onto the floor, yanking his wand from his tight grip.  
  
"You're sick! You pervert!" she screeched, "What the hell were you thinking!"  
  
Sirius picked himself up off the ground as Lily stood menacingly in front of him, her wand jammed into his chest.  
  
"You know, you're really quite attractive" Sirius commented, looking towards Miria.  
  
Miria blushed a deep scarlet, but kept her wand on him all the same.  
  
"Attractive! Attractive! You sleaze! You complete and utter wanker!"  
  
"Lily don't be so jealous, just because I didn't say you were beautiful!" Sirius said, rolling his eyes.  
  
"Don't give me that crap! You've drawn the line Sirius! I'm going to get McGonagall"  
  
Sirius grabbed onto her arm just as she was about to turn around.  
  
"Look, I know I'm a pervert, and a slight womanizer, but seriously Lily, you can't tell McGonagall" Sirius said urgently.  
  
Miria raised her eyebrows at him.  
  
"Slight?"  
  
"And why can't I tell McGonagall?" Lily asked disbelievingly.  
  
"Because if you tell her, she'll figure out that I'm animagi, and in case you can't remember, let me refresh you memory, I'm unregistered- that's illegal!"  
  
"Why should I save your sorry ass?!"  
  
"Because you wouldn't be saving mine; you'd be saving Remus'" he replied quietly.  
  
Lily blinked, taking in what Sirius had said, and finally walked over and tossed herself onto her bed, giving out a frustrated groan.  
  
"I hate you Black" she said with all sincerity.  
  
"I know" Sirius replied dryly.  
  
Suddenly he whipped Miria's wand out of her hands and bolted for the door.  
  
Lily didn't flinch once as he reached for the handle, only to find it locked.  
  
"Come on Black, you know me better then that!"  
  
Sirius laughed bitterly, "What are you going to do, hold me hostage?"  
  
"Until I think of a suitable punishment not in any way uncovering how you help Remus, yes, you could say that"  
  
Sirius rolled his eyes and slumped down, leaning against the door to the room.  
  
"Well then, we could be here for a while"  
  
"Sirius I'd suggest that if you don't want the consequences to be as severe or embarrassing that you shut your mouth" Miria suggested lightly as she too went over to sit on her four poster.  
  
"My dear, it is impossible to embarrass Sirius Black" he said smoothly.  
  
"Oh don't worry, I have something else in mind for you" Lily said, with an evil glint in her eyes.  
  
The clogs started to turn in her head, forming yet another twisted plan.  
  
"You, my friend are going to play a prank"  
  
Sirius looked at her as if she was the dumbest person alive; that wasn't a punishment, that was a bloody reward!  
  
"On James Potter" she finished, grinning wickedly.  
  
Sirius felt like he'd just been punched in the gut.  
  
"What?!" he spluttered.  
  
Miria exploded into a fit of laughter.  
  
"You- you can't do that!" he exclaimed, "James would kill me!"  
  
"Exactly my point"  
  
"But it's against our morals! A marauder can't play a prank on a fellow marauder!"  
  
"Then don't get caught" Lily replied simply.  
  
"But he knows my work; I've been pranking with him for six years!"  
  
Lily, completely happy with herself at getting such a desired reaction out of Sirius, simply smirked at him.  
  
"Then do something you wouldn't normally do, do something. . .slytherin- ish"  
  
There. Right there. She had dropped the bomb. If the little faith she had in Sirius was correct, he would take her advice, and not get caught, and in the working, do something only a Slytherin would do, convince James that Snape had done it, leaving James ticked off, and for sure and certain willing to retaliate, completing their bet and making sure she didn't have to go to Hogsmeade with him. It was Brilliant, not only brilliant, but evil. All in all, she was extremely happy with herself.  
  
Sirius gaped at her.  
  
"You want _me_, _Sirius Black_, filth of the Black blood, traitor of the serpent ways, to act like a _Slytherin_?" he asked incredulously.  
  
"Wow! You actually do have brains up there in that big head!" Lily said amazedly.  
  
Sirius growled threateningly under his breath.  
  
"Your way over your head Evans" he said, trying to regain his cool.  
  
"Don't kid me; I know I have the upper hand"  
  
"You're using Remus' lycanthropy against him you know" he said, hoping to make her feel guilty.  
  
"No, I'm using it against you, and you deserve it, so it doesn't really matter" she said evenly.  
  
"So you'll either do this, or be found out by McGonagall, and in the working, also reveal that you know Remus is a werewolf, and that he helped you become animagi illegally" Miria said.  
  
Sirius, finally recognising defeat, gave in and let out a groan of irritation. Swearing to high heaven that he'd definitely get Lily back for this.  
  
"Well then Sirius, I think I know your answer, so you might as well come over here and let me do the charm that we used in the secret keeper game on you so you won't spill the beans to anyone" Lily said happily.  
  
Sirius reluctantly got to his feet and stood begrudgingly in front of her.  
  
She performed the spell easily, smiling all the time.  
  
"Now, if you even think of coming up here again I swear I won't hesitate to blast you into the Slytherin dungeons, so in other words, watch out, I'm lurking around every corner"  
  
"So comforting" Sirius responded sarcastically.  
  
Lily said a short spell and a thick rope came spurting out of her wand.  
  
"Here's what you're going to do. You'll transform into a dog, I'll put the rope around your neck, and we'll proceed to kick you down the stairs, then you'll transform-out of sight-in the common-room, then com back, show us that you've transformed, and we'll toss your wand down, then you will go back up to the boys dormitory while we watch you and stay up there, ok?"  
  
"Well it's not exactly like I have much choice there, now is it?" he replied bitterly.  
  
She indicated for him to transform, and he did so, hating every moment of being so much under her control.  
  
She tied the rope around his fury neck. He snapped at her fingers, wriggling all the time, trying to do anything that would make it difficult for her.  
  
"Feisty, feisty" she tutted mockingly, "I guess it was the Disillusionment charm you used to get up here?"  
  
Sirius merely growled, snarling to show his sharp teeth, however, Lily was not affected by his failing attempt to intimidate her.  
  
She cast the spell, so it looked like she was holding onto thin air.  
  
"Miria, would you like to do the honours?" Lily questioned in a sickly sweet voice.  
  
Miria smiled evilly, taking the rope from Lily's hands and leading him out the door.  
  
Just as they arrived at the stairs she knelt down, pretending to be examining her foot and whispered in his ear.  
  
"Never mess with a woman getting undressed"  
  
And with that, she proceeded to push him most ungracefully down the stairs.  
  
Sirius stomped up the stairs to the boy's dorms after doing everything Lily had told him too.  
  
They'd got him. They'd got him good. And he was _not_ happy about it.  
  
He threw open their door stamped his way over to his bed.  
  
"How'd it go?" James immediately asked, sitting up from his spot on the floor where he was surrounded by various bits of parchment with quidditch game plans drawn expertly all over them.  
  
Sirius merely threw off his robes.  
  
"The things I do for you Lupin" he muttered darkly before he grumpily drew his curtains closed, images of a beheaded Lily flying through his mind.

* * *

Ok, so as you can see, I've finally worked out how to do bold and italics, and I'm currently in the process of fixing up all of the other chapters so that they'll have bold and italics in them, and so that all the typos will be gone. I just need to ask the people who have author alert on me a question: When I redo chapters, do you receive an author alert?  
  
Ok! So who saw Prisoner of Azkaban? I though it was great! Well actually, when I first saw it I was kind of disappointed, cos I think I was expecting a little too much cos I had been waiting for it for so long and it was very different from the first two films cos of the new director. I think it just had a totally different feel to it. But when I went to see it the second time I appreciated it a whole lot more. The only things I didn't really like were how they made Professor Lupin look, which is nothing like I imagined him, and when I first saw him before I saw the movie I thought he was going to be really crap, but the actor did a good job, which I'm happy about. One of the other things was, did anyone else think that the werewolf looked a bit like a spindly clothes line? Or is it just me? Anyways, tell me what you think, and what you liked and didn't like in your review, I'd be really happy to know what you thought!  
  
Ok, now onto my thanks to my reviewers: _crazy-chick2, arie, Star of the North, berti, Aspiring Shieldmaiden, Can You See and AnimeAngel90_.  
  
_HieiJaganshiAlways_: Thankyou! . It's great to get feedback from you. I hope you keep reading!  
  
_Agloechen_: Yeah, I'm sorry the secrets were a little boring; I probably should have made them a bit more magical now I go back and read them. I hope this chapter was more interesting for ya! .  
  
_Kiwi_: No! Sirius is mine! You'll have to put up a fight for him, there're so many crazy fangirls like ourselves out there! Glad to here your enjoying the fic!  
  
Thankyou all very much! I hope to update soon!  
  
Mystical Dreams 


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